The Arizona sentinel., 1904-06-01
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 o4
 fhe Unified states. IL is formed by the Junc-
 tion ofthe Green and Grand rivers, rising in
 Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re-
 giOnS of great precipitation manly Tn the
 GOrm Of snow. Only a small percentage of the
 water yielded by the basin of the Colorado
 has as vet 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 flow at
 fhc bottom of profound canyons, from which
 It Is impossible t0 divert them upuN irFigablc
 lands The river emefgeS from it's canyon a
 short distance above the NeedleS-tEe cross
 ing Of the Santa Ee Pacific rairCHd-5nd has series Of valleys which between tlts point and the Mexican line aggregate about J6O00 acres. In this region the waters are heavily
 laden with sediment, which is a serious OD- stacle to their diversion The grade of the river. is so flat that diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have SD slight q a fall and low a velocity that jt would quickly i'll with sediment fyuFa the river. For the same reason a canal must Ise very long in order 10 command any considerable area of lafd in the river valley
 TWO AND A gFApTER RILLIOS GALLONS
 MISCTE.
 Measurements Of the flow near Yu Rta show that the river sometimes discharges mini mum Of about :FN cubic feet per second. It's maximum diSeharge is unknown, but proba- bly exceeds one-tTsif million cubic feet per second AS the river Is supplied mainly by meItins Snows, its sesFSolf of high water cui- piinates in June, and khp low water season is Jn the wfpteT " hen it's sources are frozen.
 Tb.' Yiver is Havigated more OF less from it's mouth to the Needles by fiat-bottoin, stern wlH-ri boats which sometimes even ascend to She Bsouih of Virgin river. It's navigation, however, is so difficult and prccariouS as to make it almost useless. At low water the channel Is so broad. shallow and changeablc that boats arc continually running aground, sometimes being Dcarly a week in advancing ten or fifteen miles In times of high water rhe swift current greatly impairS 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 fluctuation 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 presented, which, if upon investigation, is found inn practicable, will largely remove all Of these difficulties, and will also greatly improve navigation at all Sc;lSons of the year.
 The development of the mineral resources, in which this country is rich, Is greatly ham, pcrcd by the great cost Of power and the lack ar transportation, both important requisites for the mining industry. The proposed plan will completely solve both problems.
 sUBTROrICAL CLIMATE.
 All orthc land that can be Irrigated from tho lower Colorado may be regarded as hav- i'm. a Semi-tropical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the year round-the requirements for water, how ever, being greater in the summer season than in the winter. It is here assumed that the maximum use in July will be twice as great as the minimum requirements in January; and that a stream with the maximum flow of two cubic feet per second in July, furnishing l 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 | continuous stream of water for industrial | ases, varying from 10000 cubic feet per second | 5n winter 10 20,000 cubic feet per second in | summer, in years of smallest discharge, all 1 Lowing the great floods of wet years to sweep | 10 the sea as at present. This will be Suffi- 1 rcnt to irrigate 100000 acres of land, and is so far in excess of the requirements below the tirand Canyon that no restriction need to bc | put upon storage and diversion Of waters | from the tributaries ofthe Colorado.
 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 arc also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar ren by alkai. All these it is proposed 10 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 ss series of reservoirs on the Colo yado river by the construction Of high dams st numerous points where the topography is favorable and where the possible storage is Earge. AM Of these dams will be provided with large sluiceTayS through the base, in rFder that the-Stored waters may be entirely drawn off, together with thpir load of silt whenever # is found desirable to do so. The Fscrvoirs will serve as settling basins for Sed- sflrnt. TfJc t}asrs- whf also bs utilized ta sISc the waters into canals for the ttOulIss saIrTssSc of aciosiug IrslEe jTrbsat1c Elate. br sRsc9 fsan;sss and of giving tlle1s velocity sufficient t0c=sfTy large <rFUgSHt of sediment shr fields. TIrc Clc-ifvity given to the e7tTrtFs will depend largely upoIs the character the soil, and will be the highest permissible with ~ut involving destructive erosion. The fall of chc Colorado river is slight that rcScr- SorS Of enormous capacity may be construct I'd without involving dams of impracticable height. At any time, by opening the sluice ways Of the reservoir the current of the river | Will quickly cut a channel through the dc ! pOSitcd sediment from the upper end Of the urscrvoir to the sluice gates; this being the longest dimension and deepest part Of the ] will in all eases form an important of thiS storage capacity, and to this cN- | lent cvcry reservoir can be permanently kept dear of sediment without expense. With | ,his exception, each reservoir is expected to i'll; when this occurs it. is proposed 1 o draw down the surface of the reservoir 30 to 70 feet, and to convert all ,f the reservoir site except the river channel | nto 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 wilt .hcn be practicable, whenever desired, tO hose the sluiccs and inundate an of the agr- i ultural land in each filled reservoir and thus , hrtiliZe if, as is naturally done by the river ] 7ilc for the valley. This is done artiffrially |, n some parts of Europe and Africa. With he deep, alfuvial soil, scmi-tropical climate / rid atmosphere, abundant water supply, and the possibility of fertiizng the fields l very year without expense. it is believed f hat such regions can be faTnlPd the wear ! Dund, and several crops taken eff annually, q n acreage productions being thuS attained ntirely without precedent in history.