The Arizona sentinel., 1903-12-09
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER


 The great Colorado river is the largest stream, both in drainage area and discharge, that lies wholly within the arid portion of the United States. It IS formed by the juno tion of the Green and Grand rivers, rising in Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re- gions of great preci pitatioD, mainly Tn the form Of snow. Only small percentage of the water yielded by the basin of tho Colorado has as yet been utilized for irrigation, and practically none for any other purposes. The obstacles are many Through most of its course this river and It's tributaries How at the bottom Of profound canyons, from which jt Is impossible to divert them upon iITlgable lands. The river emerges from its canyon q short distance above the Needles-thc cross ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad-and has a series Of valleys which between thls point and the Mexican line aggregate about 50000O acreS In this region the waters are heavily laden with sediment, which is a serious ob- Stacle 10 their diversion The grade of the river is so flat that a diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have so slight a d fall and so low a velocity that it would quickly i'll with sediment from the river. For the same reason canal must be very long In order 10 command any considerable area of land in the river valley.
 TWO A:;D A QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A
 MINUTE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show that the river sometimes discharges a mimi mum of about 5000 cubic feet per second. Its maximum discharge is unknown, but proba- bly exceeds oae-half million cubic feet per second. AS the river is supplied mainly by nn-lting SnoWS its SrQSon Of high water cuI- mnateS tll June, and the low water season is in the w.,'ier. when its sources an. frozen.
 The river IS naVigated more or less from It's mouth to The Needles by hat-bottGm, stern wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend to the mouth Of Virgin river. lis navigation, however, is so difficult and nTecariOnS as tO make 1t almost useless. At low water the channel is so broad, shallow and chaDgeable that boats are continually running aground: sometimes being nearly week in advancing ten or fifteen miles. In times of high water the Swlft current greatly llnpalrS navigation. Wherever wagon transportation is possible, this is preferred to the river.
 The chief obstacle to the utilization of the waters of thIs basin are: First, the great huctuation 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 a small scale.
 X comprehensive project is here ted, which, if upon investigation, is found i'm practicable, will largely remove all of these difficulties, and will also greatly improve navigation at all seasons of the year.
 The development of inc mineral resources, in which this country Is rich, IS greatly ham, pcred 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.
 SCDTRoPICAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may be regarded as hav- ing a Semi-trOpical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the year r0unG-the req UirenlculS Tor wafer, how ever, being greater in tine suu uunmer season than in the winter. IL is here assumed that the maximum use In July will be twice as great aS the minimum requirements in January; and that q stream with tine maximum flow of two cubic feet per second in July, furnishing about 1000 acre-feet per annum, will supply 2Uo acres of land.
 1t 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 20,O00 cubic feet per second in summer, In years Of smallest discharge, al- lowing the great floods of wet years tO sweep fo the at present This will be Suffi- clent to irTigate 2,OOO,OOO acres or land, and is far iE 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
 4 considerable portion Of the valleys of the lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains subject to occasional inundations, and rough, Eravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul tivation. There are also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar ron bv alEali 4 v these Y iS proposed to re claim by impounding upon them the sill 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 She construction of high dams at numerous points where the geography is favorable and where the possible storage is large. All Of these dams will be provided with large Siutceways through the base, in order that the stored waters may bc entirely drawn od, together with their load of silt whenever it is found desirable to do so. The reservoirs will serve settling basins for sed inlcnt. Tine dams will also be utilized tC raise the waters into canals, for the double purpose Of enclosing more frrigable lands bN such canals and Of giving them a velocity sufficient tocarry a large amount or sediment in suspension until ii can bc deposited upOr inc fields. The dcclivity given to the canals will depend largely upon the character of the EoiI, and will be the highest permissible with out involving destructive erosion. The fall G the Colorado river is so slight that rcSer NoiTS of enormous capacity may be construct ed without involving dams or impTaetic height. at any time, by opening the Slulce ways of The reservoir, the current CT the riVel will quickly cut a channel through the de pOSIted sediment from the upper end of tn, reservoir to the Sluice gates; this being th' longest dimension and deepest part of th' reservoir will in all cases form an importan part of this storage capacity, and tO this eN tent t.YerT reservoir can be permanently kep clear of sediment without expense. Witt this exception. each reservoir is expected t' gradually fill: when this occurs it Is proposed 10 draw down the surface of tue reserVo permanently 70 to 70 feet, and 10 convert al or the reservoir sic except the river channc 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 It wil then bc practicable, whenever desired, tt rloSt. lhr Sluices and inundatc all Of the agTi cultural land in each filled reservoir and thu frrtilize IL, as is naturally done by the rive Nile for the valley. This is done artificial, iu some parts Of Europe and Africa. Witt the deep, alluvial soil, seIni-tropical climate .rid atmosphere, abundant water supply and the possibility or fertiliZing the neld every year without expense, it is belicve that such regions can be farmed the yea round, and several crops taken of annually m acreage production being thus attaine antircly without precedent in history.