The Arizona sentinel., 1904-06-22
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

HE GREk! GuLURkDU RlVER
 The great Colorado river is the largest stream, both in drainage area and discharge. that lies wholly within the arid portion Of fbe United States. IL is formed by the junc- tion Of the Greer and Grand rivers, rising in Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re- gions Of great precipitation, mainly In the form Of SHOW. Only a 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 are many. Through most of it's course this river and its tributaries flow at the bottom of profound canyons, from which it Is impossible to divert them upon rrigable lands. The river emerges from its canyon a short distance above the Needles-thc cross ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railFoad-and has . series of valleys which between thls point and the Mexican line aggregate about 500NO 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 river's bed IDust have so slight a quickly ffll with sediment from the river. For the same reason a canal must be very bong in order to command any considerable area Of land in She river valley.
 TWO ASD 4 QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A
 MINUTE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show that the river sometimes discharges a mini- mum of about 5000 cubic feet Der second. Its maximum discharge is unknown, Edt pYoba- hIy exceeds one-balf million cubic feet per second. As tise river Is supplied mainly by melting snows, its season of high water cul IAinateS in June, and the low water season IS Tn the winter. when it's sources are froZeEE
 The river is navigated nloFc or less from it's mouth to the Needles by ftat-b0ttom, stern VI whecl boats, which sometimes even ascend to the mouth Of Virgin river. It's navigation, however, is 80 difficult and precariouS as to lnalfe 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 Eliles In times Of high water the swift current greatly ilnpaiFs 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 fuctuation 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 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 nam 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.
 sUBTRoriCAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may be regarded as hay ing a Semi-tropical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the wear 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 3wice 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 about 1000 acre-feet per annum, will supply goo 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 nses, varying from l0,9G0 cubic feet per second in winter To 20000 cubic feet per second in summer, in years Of smallest discharge, al- lowing the great floods of wet years to sweep to the sea as at present. This will be suffi- eient 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 tribuJarieS of the Colorado.
 4 considerable portion of the valleys of the lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains subject to occasional lnGn datlOnS, and rough, graVelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- tivation. There are also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar 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
  at numerous points where the topography is favorable and where the pnsSible storage is Barge 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, whenever it IS found desirable to do so. The reservoirs will serve as settling basins for sed 5ment The dams will also be utilized t0 raise tbe waters into canals, for the double purpose of enclosing more irrigable lands by such canals and of giving them a velocity sufficient a ldlryp amount intDnf in suspension until it can be deposited upon l 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 reser- | voirs Of enormous capacity may be construct | pd without involving dams of impracttcable | height. At any time, by opening the SlUicc- | ways of the reservoir. the current of the river | will quickly cut channel through the de- | poSited sediment from the upper end of the | to the sluice gates; this being the | longest dimension and deepest part of the | will in all eases form an important | part Of this storage capacity, and to this eX- lent every reservoir can be permanently kept | clear Of sediment without expense With | this exception, each reservoir is expected to | fill; when this occurs it is proposed | 10 draw down the surface of the reservoir l 20 to 10 feet, and to convert all l 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. 1t will | then be practicable, whenever desired, to i rlose the sluices and inundate all of the agri- cultural land in each filled reservoir and thus | Fertiize it, as is naturally done by the river | Nile fer the valley. This is done artificially | in some parts of Europe and Africa. With | the deep, alluvial soil, semi-tropical climate, grid atmosphere, abundant water supply, | and the possibility of fertiiizing the fields | every year without expense. it is believed | hat such regions can be farmed the year round, and several crops taken of annually, | an acreage production being thus attained | entirely without precedent in history.