The Arizona sentinel., 1904-07-13
THE GREAT cOLORApO RIVER

THE GREAT GOL0RADO RIVER
 The great Colorado river is the largest
 stream, both In drainage area and discharge
 that lies wholly within the arid portion o
 3he United States. Ii is formed by the june
 Hon of the Greer and Grand rivers, rising in
 Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re
 gions of great precipitation, mainly Tn the
 eorm of snow. Only a small percentage of the
 water yielded by the basin Of the Colorado
 Aas as yet been utilized for irrigation, and
 ssgetiFalfy none for any other purposes. The
 obstacles are many. Through most of its
 course this river and it's tributaries flow al
 she bottom of profound canyons, from which H Is impossible to divert them upon irrigable lands. The river emePges from its canyon a short distance above the NeedleS-thc cross ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railrcad-and has series Of valleys which between this point and the Mexican line aggregate about 500,000 acres In this region he waters are heavily
 Baden with sediment, which is a serious ob- stace 10 their diversion The grade of the river is so fiat that a diversion canal taken out at the riTer's bed must have SC slight a fall and so low a velocity that M would quickly fill with sediment from the river. For the same reason canal naust 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 river sometimes dfseha rges a mini mum Of about 5000 cGlbie feet per second It's pnaxirngm discl3aRge is unknown but prOba- Sly exceeds ofle-hGsH BaslAon etIbic feet per second As the river is supplied mainly by melting SnowS, it's Sessson-. Of high water cul- S4inseteS i5A Lne- aslll the low water season is ID the winter. when its s01cces are frozen.
 The rcyeF is nasSisEsted more or less from it's rss5Gth to- the- Needles by flat-bOttoRl, stern wheel boats, whiNiEs9n2et ines- even ascend to She T9aouth of Virgin river. It's navigation, However, is SO difficult and precarious as to make it almost useless. At low water the channel is so brOad, shallow and changcable tflat bO&ts are continually running aground. sometimes being nearly a week in advancing 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 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 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 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.
 sUBTROPICAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may be regarded aS hav lg 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. If 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 about 1000 acre-fcet per anGum, 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 uses, varying from 10000 cubic feet per second in winter 10 10000 cnbic 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- cicnt to ff1igate 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 tributaries of the Colorado.
 considerable portion of the-vallcys Of tic lower Colorado consists Of sandy flood plains subject to occasional inandationS, and rough, gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- tivation. There are also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar ren by alkali. All these it 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- 1 vision of a series of reservoirs on the Colo l -ado river by the construction of high dams l sst nunlp roUs points where the topography is 1 favortbke and where the E1SSble storage is | lsrge- All Of thcse dams will be provided | with large sluicewayS through the base, in | order that the stored waters may be entirely | sSra@r of, together with their load of silt, l 'EheireSer it is found desirable to do so. The | reservoirs will serve as settling basins for Sed SnleIIt. The dams will also be utilized t0 | Zai>e the waters into canals, for the dOubie BsiErpose of enclosing more irritable lands by | '+S3ch canals and of giving them velocity | sufficient to carry a large amount of sediment | in suspension until it can be deposited upon the fields. The dccliVity given to the canals | will depend largely upon the character ofthc soil, and will be the highest permissible with aut involving destructive erosion. The fall of the Colorado river is so slight that rcSer- voirs Of enormous capacity may be construct rd without Involving dams Of impTacticablc height At any time, by opening the suicc- ways of the reservoir, the current of the river will quickly cut q channel through the de. posted sediment from the upper end of the reservoir to the Sluice gates; this being the i longest dimension and deepest part Of the will in all cases form an important part of :hiS storage capacity, and to this eN- tent every reservoir can be permanently kept s4car Of sediment without expense With tais exception. each reservoir is expected to fill; when this occurs ii is proposed b draw down the surface of the reservoir 20 to 10 feet, and to convert all )f the reservoir site except the river channel irrigated farming land, and if necessary construct another reservoir for storage pur- soScs higher up on the stream. This policy V III STtdJiN lltCltsiSc tllt sIlt'd IL VIII .hen be practicable, whenever desired, to dose the sluiccS and inundatc all of the agri- cultural land in each filed reservoir and thus sertilize it, as is naturally done by the river Silc for the valley. This is done artifcially n some parts Of Europe and Africa. With hc decp, aluVial soil, scmi-trOpical climate, Irid atmosphere, abundant water supply, nd the possibility Of fcrtiiizing the fields ,Very year without expense. it is believed hat such regions can bc faTmc6 the year -ound, and several crops taken on annually, In acreage production being thus attained ntireiy without precedent in history.