The Arizona sentinel., 1904-05-04
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

JUL 0ttSNt OVk0tthBU tHvktt
 The great Colorado river Is the largest
 that lies wholly within the arid portion of
 the United states. It Is formed by the june
 ton Of the Green and Grand rivers, rising in
 Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re-
 gions of great precipitation, mainly Tn the form Of snow. Only & small percentage of the
 water yielded by the basin of the Colorado
 has ss yet been utilized for irrigation, and
 practically none for any other purposes. The
 obstacles :re many. Through most of it's
 course this river and its tributaries flow at
 the bottom of profound canyons. from which
 it ls impossible to divert them upon irrigable
 lands The river emergeS from its canyon a short distance above the Needles s-the cross Ing Of the Santa Fe Pacific rsilroad-nnd has series of valleys which between this point and the Mexican. line aggregate about 5Ol,QO0
 acres. In this region the waterS are heavily
 laden with sediment, which is q serious ob- stacle to their diversion The grade of the river Ia 30 fat that diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have so slight 6 a fall and SO low velocity that It would quickly hll 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 A QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A
 MINUTE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show that the r1ver sometimes discharges a mini- mum Of about 5000 cubic feet per second. Its maximum discharge is unknown, but proba- bIy exceeds onehalf million cubic feet per second. As the river Is supplied mainly by melting snows, it's season of high water cul- inmates In June, and the low water season Is in the winter, when It's sources axe frozen.
 The river is navigated mo re or less from It's mouth to the Needles by fat-bOttom, stern wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend 10 the mouth of Virgin river. It's navigation, however, is so difficult and precariouB as to make 1t almost useless. At low water the channel is SO broad, shallow and chanReable that boats are continually running aground, rnft hotrn rl n Ah Inn ten or fifteen miles. In times Of high water the 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 arc: First, the great nuctuation in discharge; second, the paucity the large quantity of sediment, making i'm practicable any diversion on a small scale.
 A comprehensive project Is here presented, which, 1T upon inve*tixation, Is found i'm practicable will largely remove all of these dif1culties, and will also greatly improve navigation at all seasons Of the year.
 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.
 sUBTRoPIcAL CLIMATE.
 All Of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may he regarded as hav- ing 6 semi-tropical climate, where the grow ing season for most products continues the year round-the eQuirements 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 he twice as great and that stream with the maximum flow Of i two cubic feet per second in July, furnishing about 1000 acre-feet per annum, will supply l 90 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 | nIlN1 ip winter to 30,000 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- | cient 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 | from 1 I the tributaries of the Colorado. ~
 A considerable portion Of the valleys of the lower Colorado consists Of sandy flood plains subject to occasional inundations, and rough;1 gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- | tlvation. There are also considerable areas Of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar claim by impoundlng upon them the silt which annually passes down the Colorado | river
 SERIES or DAMS
 The general plan here proposed is the pro- vision Of x series Of reservoirs on the Colo rado river by the construction of high dams at numerous points where the topography is favorable and where the ps,Hslble storage Is large. 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 go. The reservoirs will serve as settling basins for sed- iment. Tine dams will also be utilized to raise the waters Into canals, for the double purpose of enclosing more irrgable lands by such canals and of giving them a velocity sufficient to carry a large amount of sediment in suspension until it can be deposited upon the fields. The declivity given to the canals 1ov~ soil, and will be the highest permissible with out involving destructive erosion. The fall of the Colorado river is so slight that reser- roirs of enormous capacity may oe construct ed without involving dams of impracticable height. At any time. by opening the sluIce- ways of .he reservoir. the current Of the river will quickly cut channel through tho de- posted sediment from the upper end of the reservoir to the sluice :gRtps; this being the longest dimension and deepest part Of the will In all cases form an important 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 p to 40 feet, and to convert all Of the reservoir site except the river channel in to irrigated farming land and, If necessary, another reservoir for storage pur- p0ses higher up on the stream. This policy will greatly Increase the arabic area. 1t will then be practicable, whenever desired, to close the sluices and inundate all of the agri- cultural land in each filled reservoir and thus fertllize 1t, is naturally done by the river Nile for the valley. This Is done artificially In some parts Of Europe and Africa. With the deep. alluvisl soil, semi-tropical climate, arid atmOSphep. abundant water supply, and the possibility Of fertiiizing the fields hat such regions can be farmed the year round, and several crops taken oil annually, an acreage production being thus attained entirely without precedent in history.