The Arizona sentinel., 1904-10-19
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
fhe United States. Ii Is formed by the juno
lion OF the Greer and Grand rivers, rising in
Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re-
gions of great precipitation, mainly In the
form of snow. Only small peTeen tage of the
water yielded by the basin of the Colorado
has as vet been utilized for irrigation, and
practically none for any other purposes. Inc
obstacles are many. Through most of Its
course this river and Its tributaries flow at
the bottom OF profound canyons, from which
1t Is impossible TO divert them upon irrigabie
lands The river energies from its canyon
short distance above the Needles-the cross
ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad-and has
series of valleys which between this point INT
and the Mexican line aggregate about 100000
acres. In this region the waters are heavily
ladeh with sediment, which is a serious OBJ
sfacle TO their diversion The grade of the
river Is so fat that diversion canal taken
out Mt the rivers bed must have so slight
a fail and SO low q velocity that ii would
quickly fill with sediment from the river.
For the same reason a canal must be very
long in order to command any considerable
area of land in the river valley.
TWO AND QUARTER BILLION GALLONS
MINUTE.
Measurements of the flow near Yuma show
that the river sometimes discharges mini
mum Of ahont moo cubic feet per second. Its
maximum discharge is unknown, but proba-
bIy exceeds one-half million cubic feet per
second. As the river is supplied manly by
melting SHOWS, its 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 aus
mouth to the Needles by hat-bottom, stern
wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend to
the mouth OF Virgin river. Its navigation,
however, is SO difficult and precarious as TO
make il almost useless. At low water the
channel is so broad. shallow and changeabe
that boats are continually running aground:
sometimes being nearly a week i'm advancing
lnC n n
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 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 I'M
practicable any diversion on a small scale.
a comprehensive project is here presented,
which, If upon investigation, Is found I'M
practicable, will largely remove az 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.
sUBrRopIcAL CLIMATE.
An of the land that can be irrigated from
the lower Colorado may be regarded as hav-
ny a semi-tropical climate, where the grow
ing season for most products continues the
year round-the requirements for water, now
ever being greater i'm 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, VIII supply
100 acres of land
the Colorado river will be able 10 furnish a
continuous stream OF water for industrial
uses varying from II, 600 cubic feet per second
.nt,lai foot nor
summer in years OF smallest discharge, al
lowing the great floods Of wet years to sweep
10 the sea as at present. This VIII be SUM-
Gent to irrigate 100000 acres OF land, ana Is
So far I'm 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.
A considerable portion of the valleys of the
lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains
subject TO occasional foundations, and rough,
gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul-
tivation. There are also considerable areas
of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar
ZEN by alkali. All these 1t 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 series OF reservoirs on the Colo
RADIO river by the construction OF high dams
Mt numerous points where the typography is
favorable and where the possible storage is
large. All of these dams will be provided
order that the stored waters may be entirely
drawn off, together with their load OF SILT,
whenever IL is found desirable to do So The
reservoirs will serve as settling basins for SEQ.
jnlent The dams will also be utilized to
raise the waters into canals, for the double
purpose OF enclosing more irrigab.e lands by
such canals and of giving them q velocity
sufficient to carry a large amount Of sediment
In suspension until ii can be deposited upon
the fields. The declivity given to the canals
will depend largely upon the character oft
MI VI highest
out involving destructive erosion. The fall oil
fhe Colorado river is so slight that FeSer-
roirs OF enormous capacity NAV he construct
Ell without involving dams OF impractlcaoie
height. At any time, by opening the sluice-
WAYS OF 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 Siuice 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 eX-
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 il is proposed
TO draw down the surface of the reservoir
permanently 20 to 30 feet, and TO convert all
Of the reservoir site except the river channel
into irrigated farming land, and. II necessary.
construct another reservoir for storage pur-
poses higher up on the stream. This policy
will greatly increase the arabic area. 1t will
then be practicable, whenever desired, 10
close the sluces and inundate all of the agri-
cultural land in each filled reservoir and thus
fertilize il, 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 fertiiiZing the fields
every wear without expense il is believed
that such regions can be farmed the veal
round and several crops taken off annually
an acreage production being thus attained
entirely without precedent in history.