The Arizona sentinel., 1905-01-25
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

V { stream, both in drainage area and discharge ] that lies wholly within tbc arid portion Ot l the United States. It is formed by the june l ton 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 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 iTTigable lands. The river emergeS from its canyon a short distance above the Needlcs-lhe cross | ing Of the Santa Fc Pacific railrOad-and has
 series of valleys which between thIS point and the Mexican line aggregate about 5Uo,E acres. In this region the waters are heavily laden with sediment, which is a serious ob- Sfacle 10 their diversion The grade of the
 river is so flat that diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have so slight a d fall and so low a velocity that it would quickly i'll with sediment from the river. For the same reason a/canal must be very long in order 10 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 discharges mini mum of about 3H00 cubic feet per second. Its maximum discharge is unknown, but p-oba- biy exceeds one-half 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 are frozen. The river is navigated more or less from it's mouth 10 the Needles by fGt-bottOm, stern wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend to the mouth of Virgin river. Its navigation, however, is SC difficult and precarious as to make it almost useless. At low water the | channel is so broad, shallow and changeablc 1 that boats are continually running aground. sometimes being nearly a week in advancing l ten or fifteen miles. In times of high water Wherever wagon transportation is possible, 1 this is preferred to the river
 The chief obstacle to the utilization of the waters of thls basin are: First, the great l 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 small scale. 4 comprehensive project is here presented,
 which, if upon investigation, is found inn
 practicable, will largely remove all of these l difficulties, and will also greatly improve navigation at all seasons of the year.
 | The development of the mineral resources, l in which this country is rich, is greatly ham, | 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 6s hay z | ing season for most products continues the l year round-the requirements for water, how ever being greater in the summer season than l in the winter. It is here assumed that the | maximum use in July will be :wice as great as the minimum requirements in January; and that stream with the maXimum flow oi two cubic feet per second i'll July, furnishing about 1000 acre-feet per annum, will supply 1 POO acres Of land.
 It is probable that with proper regulation | the Colorado river will be able to furnish {, | T .,.,1
 uses, varying from l0,G00 cubic feet per second | in winter 10 20,O00 cubic feet per second in summer, in years Of smallest discharge, al 1 lowing the great floods of wet years to sweep 1 to the sea as at present This will be Suffi. ciCnt to irTigate 2000,G00 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.
 A considerable portion of the valleys of the lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains subject to occasional mutations, and rough
 gravclly foothills with soil unsuitable for cul tivation. There are also considerable areas of sand dunes, and some tracts rendered bar
 ren by allla!i. All these il is proposed to re- which annually passes down the Colorado rivcr
 SERIES OF DAMS.
 The general plan here proposed is the pro vision of a series of reservoirs on the Colo radO river by the construction Of high dams at numerous points where the topography is fa,1orable and where the possible, storage is | large. All of these dams will be provided with large sluceways through the base, in
 order that the stored waters may be entirely drawn off, together with their load or Silt whenever it is found desirable to do so. The
 reservoirs will serve as settling basins for sed iment. The dams will also be utilized tC raise the waters into canals, for the double purpose of enclosing more Irri2able lands by
 such canals and of giving them velocity sufficient to carry a large amount of sediment | n sion milf if he deDOSi1pd lInOn l the fields. The declivity given to the canals | will depend largely upon the character the soil, and will be the highest permissible with ! out involving destructive erosion. The fall o 1 the Colorado river is so slight that TeSer | VOiTs of enormous capacity may be construct l ed without involving dams of iinpracticablC | height. At any time, by opening the SluIcc 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 l longest dimension and deepest part of the
 reservoir will in all cases form an important l part of this storage capacity, and to this eX
 tent every reservoir can be permanently, ,t21 keRt ] clear of sediment without expense. With | thS exception, each reservoir is expected tC
 gradually fll; when this occurs it is proposed
 to draw down the surface of the reservoir { permanently 20 to 10 feet, and to convert al of the reservoir site except the river channc 1, iHto irrigated farming land, and, If necessary | eoAstF1et another reservoir for storage pur
 poses higher up on the stream. This policy
 will greatly increase the arabic area. It vii ] Ghen be practicable, whenever desired, tC ! close he sltrices and iHundate all of the agri
 cultural land iIr CsIah flied reservoir and thu:
 fcItiliZc if, as is natar:tlly done by the rive i Nile for the valley. This is done artiflciall3 in some parts of Europe and Africa. Witt
 the deep, alluvial soil, serni-tropical climate
 arid atmosphere, abandant water supply
 and the possibility of fertiiizing the field every year without expense. it Is believed
 hat such regions can be farmed the yea
 round, and several crops taken off annually
 an acreage production being thus attaiGeC | entirely without precedent in history