The Arizona sentinel., 1903-12-23
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

IItL uIILHI UULUItHgU ItIIIH
 The great Colorado river is the largest stream, both in drainage area and discharge that lies wholly within the arid portion oi the United States It is formed by the junc- ton Of the Green and Grand rivers, rising in Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re- gions of great precipitation, mainly Tn the form Of snow. Only small percentage of the water yielded by the basin of the Colorado has as yet been utilized for irrigation, and practically none for any other purposes. The obstacles gre many. Through most of its course this river and it's tributaries flow at the bottom of profound canyons, from which 1t Is impossible to divert them upon irrigable lands. The river emergeS from its canyon a short distance above the Needles-the cross ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad-and has a series Of valleys which between thlS point and the Mexican line aggregate about j00,O00 acres. In this region the waters are heavily laden with sediment which is a serious ob- stacle to their diversion The grade Of the river is so flat that diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have so slight a fall and so low velocity that ii would For the same reason a canal must be very kong in order to command any considerable area of land in the river valley.
 TWO AND A QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A
 MINUTE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show Shat the river sometimes discharges a mini mum of about 5000 cubic feet per second. Its maximum discharge is unknown. but proba- bly, exceeds one-half million cubic feet per second. As the river is supplied mainly by melting SnowS, it's season of high water cul- inmates in June, and the low water season is in the winter. when its sources are frozen.
 The river is navigated more or less from it's mouth to the Needles by fiat-bottom, Stern- wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend to the mouth of Virgin river. It's navigation, however, is so difficult and precarous as to make it almost useless. At low water the channel is so broad, shallow and changeable that boats are continually running aground. sometimes being nearly a week in advancing ten or fifteen miles. In times Of high water the swift current greatly impairs navigation. Wherever wagon transportation is possible, this is preferred 10 the river.
 The chief obstacle to the utilization of the waters of thls basin are; First, the great fiuctuatiOn in discharge; second, the paucity of land that can be reached by them; third the large quantity of sediment, making inn practicable any diversion on small scale.
 A comprehensive project is here presented, which, if upon investigation, is found inn practicable, will largely remove all Of these difficulties, and will also greatly improve navigation at all seasons of the year.
 The development Of the mineral resources, in which this country is rich, is greatly ham, pered by the great cost of power and the lack of transportation, both important requisites for the mining industry. The proposed plan will completely solve both problems.
 sUBTRoPIcAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may be regarded as hav- ing semi-tropical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the year rOund-the req uircInontS for water, how ever, being greater in the summer season than in the winter. 1t is here. assumed that the maximum use in July will be twice as great as the minimum requirements in January; and that stream with the maximum flow Of two cubic feet per second in July, furnishing about 1000 acre-feet per annum, will supply 200 acres Of land
 It is probable that with proper regulation the Colorado river will be able to furnish a continuous stream of water for industrial uses, varying from 10000 cubic feet per second in winter to 10000 cubic feet per second in summer, in years Of smallest discharge, al- lowing the great floods of wet years tO sweep 10 the sea as at present. This will be Suffi- cient to irrigate 100000 acres of land, and is so far in excess of the requirements below the Grand Canyon that no restriction need to be put upon storage and diversion Of waters from the tributaries of the Colorado.
 considerable portion of the valleys of the lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains subject to occasional inundations, and rough, gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- tivation. There are also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar ren by alkali. All these it is proposed to re- claim by impounding upon them the silt which annually passes down the Colorado river
 SERIES OF DAMS
 The general plan here proposed is the pro- vision of a series of reservoirs on the Colo rado river by the construction of high dams at numerous points where the topography is favorable and where the possible storage is large. All of these dams will be provided with large sluiceways through the base, in order that the stored waters may be entirely drawn of, together with their load Of silt wherever II is found desirable to do so. The reservoirs will serve as settling basins for sed- 1ment The dams will also be utilized to raise the waters into canals, for the double purpose Of enclosing more irTigablc lands bY such canals and Of giving them a velocity sufficient to carry a large amount of sediment in suspension until it can be deposited upon the fields The decliVity given to the canals will depend largely upon the character ofthC soil, and will be the highest permissible with out involving destructive erosion. The fall Of the Colorado river is so slight that rcser- NOtrS of enormous capacity may be construct cd without involving dams of impracticable height. At any time, by opening the sluice- ways or The reservoir, the current of the river will quickly cut a channel through the de posted sediment from the upper end of the reservoir to the sluice gates; this being the longest dimension and deepest part of the reservoir will in all cases form an important part of this storage capacity, and to this eN- tent every reservoir can be permanently kept clear Of sediment without expense. With this exception. each reservoir is expected to gradually fill; when this occurs it is proposed to draw down the surface of the reservoir permanently 21 10 40 feet, and to convert all Of the reservoir site except the river channel into irrigated farming land, and, if necessary, construct another reservoir for storage pur- poses higher up on the stream. This policy will greatly increase the arabic area. It will then be practicable, whenever desired, to close the sluices and inundatc all Of the agri- cultural land In each filled reservoir and thus ferfilize ii, as is naturally done by the river Nile for the valley. This is done artificially in some parts of Europe and Africa. With the deep, alluvial soil, semi-tropical climate, arid atmosphere, abundant water supply, and the possibility of fertiliZing the fields every year without expense, it is believed that such regions can be farmed the year eound, and several crops taken off annually, Tn acreage production being thus attained Eutirely without precedent in history.