The Arizona sentinel., 1904-10-26
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

I'LL StskH UOEGtkHS0 sskE E II
The great Colorado river is the largest
stream, both in drainage area and discharge.
shat lies wholly within the arid portion Of
the United States 1t is formed by the ianc-
tion of the Greer: ard Grand rivers, rising in
colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re-
gions Of great precipitation, mainly In the
form of snow. Only 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 its
course this river and lis tributaries Gov ut
the bottom OF profound canyons. from which
it Is impossible 10 divert them Ep0n itPgable
BANDS. The river enleTges from its c;aayOn a
short distance above the Needles-the cross
ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railToad-and has
q series of valleys which between tins point
and the Mexican line aggregate about 590,G0
acres. In this region the waters are heavily
laden with sediment, which is seriopH OBJ
stacle TO their diversion The grade Of the
river is so fat that diversion canal taken
out ut the rivers bed nsust have so slight Il
fall and so low 8 velocity that x Eodld
quickly Gil with sediment from the river.
For the same reason canal must be very
area OF land in the river valley
TWO AND A QUARTER BILLION GALLeSS n
MINUTE.
Measurements of the flew near Yuma sAow
that the river sometimes discharges a mini
mum Of about Se0e cubic feet per second. Its
maximum discharge IL unknown, but pTOba-
bly, exceeds one-haif million cubic feet per
second. As the river Is supplied n9fl'nIy by
melting SHOWS, its season OF high water cUi-
inmates in June, and the low water season is
Sc, thc winter. when its sources are frozen.
The river is naYigated more or less from its
mouth TO the Needles by fiat-bOttOn, sierra
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 changeabie
that beats are continually running aground.
sometimes being nearly week in advancing
ten or fifteen miles. In times of high water
she 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
huctuation 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 viii 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, 10th important requisites
for the mining industry. The proposed plan
viii completely solve both problems.
sUBTRoPIcAL CLIMATE.
All the land that can be irrigated from
the lower Colorado may be regarded bav-
,ng 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. 1t 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-feet per annum, will supply
200 acres of land.
1t 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 cTbic feet per second in
summer, in years of smallest discharge, al !
lowing the great floods of wet years to sweep
10 the sea as at present. This will be Suffi- |
eent TO irrigate 100000 acres of land, and is
SO far in excess of the requirements below the |
Grand Canyon that no restriction iced 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 consiS Is of sandy flood plains !
subject to occasional lions, and rough, |
gravelly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul- |
tivation. There are also considerable areas /
of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar |
rem by alkai. 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-
vision of a series of reservoirs on the Colo |
yado river by the construction of high dams |
at numerous points where the typography is |
favorable and where the possible storage is |
Barge. All of these dams will be provided |
with large sideways through the base, in
order that the stored waters may be entirely |
drawn of, together with their load of silt,
whenever 1t is found desirable TO do so. The |
reservoirs will serve as settling basins for sed-
3ment. The dams VIII also be utilized 10
raise the waters into canals, for the double
purpose Of enclosing more irTigable lands by
such canals and of giving them velocity
sufficient tC carry q large amount of sediment
IN suspension until it can be deposited upon
ehe fields. The declivity given to the canals
will depend largely upon the character oftEe
out involving destructive erosion. The fan OF
she Colorado river is so slight that rcScr-
voirs of enormous capacity may be construct
sd 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 de-
posted sediment from the upper end of the
reservoir to the sluice 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 eN-
tent every reservoir can be permanently kept
clear of sediment without expense With
this exception. each reservoir is expected to
gradually fiji; when this occurs IL is proposed
70 draw down the surface of the reservoir
permanently 20 TO 40 feet and to convert all
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
close the sluices and inundate ali Of the agr-
cultural land in each filled reservoir and thus
fertilize it, as is naturally done by the river
Nile for the valley. This is done artificially
In some parts OF Europe and Africa With
she deep, alluvial soil, Semi-tropica! climate,
arid atmosphere, abundant water supply,
q ID the possibility of fertiizing 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.