The Arizona sentinel., 1903-10-28
TIE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

The great Colorado river is the largest stream bcfb tn drainage area and djScilarg rge, 1 shat lies wholly within the arid portion of ! 'h" United SjnteS. l; IS formed ay the june | tan of tue Green and tirand rivers, rising in l Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re- gions of great precipitation, mainly ln tie ! form of snow. Only q small percentage of the water welded hv h" basin Of the Colorado has as vet been utilized for irrigation and | practically none for any other purposes The ! obstacles arc many. Through most Of It's | course this river and ijs tributaries flow at the bottom Of profound cgnyonS from which ! it k Impossible iO divert them upon irrigGble i lands. The river cIncTEtS from it's canyon a short distance ABCVr the NeetiicS-tbe cross ing of the santa Fe Pacific r3,il.0nd-;tnd has
 a series or valleys which between thIS point and the Mexican line aggTcEat" about 5,l0'as' acres Tn tEIs rrgiGn the waters are heavily laden with sediment, which Is a serious ob- stacie 10 their diversion The grade oI tle [ river is so fiat that a diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have slight a
 a fall and SO low velocity that 1t would quickly fill with sediment from the river. For the s;;!neTcason canal must oe very long in order to command any considerable area of land in the river valley.
 TWO AND A QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A
 MtNCrE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show that the river sometimes discharges q mini mum of about 3thU cubic feet per second It's lns; ximun discharge is unknown, nut pruba- bly, exceeds One-half million cubic feet per second. hS the river Is supplied mainly by melting snows, it's season Uf high water cul- inmates in June, and the low water season is in the winter. when it's 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 pTecarOus as to make it almost useless At low water the channels Is SO broad, shallow and changeable that boats are continually running aground. sometimes being nearly week in ad dNanciug tpn q 4lf iDl 2 la the swift current greatly iInpoirs navigation. Wherever wagon Transportation is possible, this iS rTtferTrc: 10 the river
 The chief obstacle to the utilization of the. waters of thus basin are: First, the great fuctuation in discharge: second, the paucity of land that can be reached by them; third, th, large quantity of sediment. making inn practicable any diversion small scale A comprehensive project is fl.re presented, which, fl upon invest igation, is found i4I- 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 aud the lack of transportation, both important requisites for the mining industry. The proposed plan | will completely solve both problems.
 suBrRoPIcAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from ! the lower Colorado may pc reg arted as nav- ing a Semi-trOpical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the 1 year rOund-tlic req ulrCmeDtS for water. how | ever, being greater in the summer season than ! in the winter. II is here assumed that the ! ms ximum use in July will be twice as great as the minimum requirements in January; and that stream with the nIaXimOm flow Of two cubic feet per second in July, furnishing about l000 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 q : continuous stream of water for industrial uses, varying from io,OO0 cubic feet per second 1 in winter to 20,000 cubic feet per second in ! summer, in years of smallest discharge, al- | lowing the great floods of wet years to sweep ! to the at present This will be Sutfi- | cient to iTrigate 2O00.G00 acres Of land, and is ! So far ill excess of the requirements below the | Grand Canyon that no restriction need to be 1 put upon storage and diversion of waters ] from the tributaries of the Colorado.
 A considerable portion Ot the valleys of the lower Colorado consists Oi Sandg flood plains subject tO Occ:'ii0nal inundations, and rough. gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- tivItiCR. There gre alSc considerable areas l of sand dunes. and some tracts rendered bar ! rcn by ak !i. All these il Is proposed to re- ! claim by lmpOundiag upon them the sit which annually passes down the Colorado river
 SERIES OF pANs.
 The general plan here proposed Is the pro- VfSiOn of it series Of reservoirs on thr Colo rafS ii-.t ny IT,: construction Cf high .il ms at numerous points where the 5pOgraphy is | faVolHo oie and where the possible StOF&g' is large. Ali Cf these dams will isc provided with ltre SinieeWavs t,,rt1sa tliF base, in order that tine stored waters may be entlriy Gra3n t6, iogei.i"j Wltl their load C. sit, whenever tt i> found desirable tJ do SO. The reservoirs Wi, serve Ss stt ttiIIg basins for Sed in}ent 'Hne 5ialnS vii! also lrr utilized tO : raise the waters Into canals, fur the double purpose of enclosing more irrigahiC lfntS by such canals and Of GiTiIS; theIn Vrl.-elty sufficient to Carry q large lIiI1url If sediment il suspension untit it can he deposited upO.' the fields. Th' decIivfty given tD the c:}1al.. will dyIend largely upOH tIle characterofthe soil, and will be he highest perliiSSi bie wi ith- out inN JlviuG destructive cFUs;0.: Tie F2ll Of | the Colorado river iS so slight that rcSer- vOrS Of enormous capacity may be construct ! ed without involving dams of impracticable 1 height. At any time, by opening the Sluicn ways of The reservoir the current of the river will quickly cat channel through the de posted sediment from the upper end of the reservoir 10 the Si'jiCe 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 20 to to 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 puT- poses higher up on the stream. This policy will greatly increase the arabic area. IL will then be practicable, whenever desired, to close the sluiccs and inuudatc all ftht Ggri- cultural land in each filled reservoir and thus fertiliZr it, as Is naturally done by the river Nile for the valley. This is done art fciaily 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. 1t IS believed that such regions can he farmed the year round, and several crops taken off annually, , an acreage production being thus attained