The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1905-03-29
The GREAT COL ORADO RIVER

!nE 0nEAl UULUnhDU 1lFEf
The great Colorado river is the larges
stream both in drainage area ana discharge
that lies wholly within the arid portion o
the United States. 1t is formed by the juno
ton Of the Greer and Grand rivers rising il
Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in re
gons of great precipitation, mainly In th'
form of snow. Only small percentage of the
water yielded by the basin of the Colorado
has yet been utilized for irrigation, anC
practically none for any other purposes. The
obstacles are many. Through most of its
course this river ard its tributaries flow al
the bottom of profound canyons, from which
it Is impossible to divert them upon irrigablC
lands. The river cmergeS from its canyon &
short distance above the NeedleS-the cross
ing of the Santa Fe Pacific railrOad-and has
a series of valleys which between this point
and the Mexican line aggregate about 5000
acres. III this region the waters are heavily
laden with sediment, which is a serious OBJ
staclc 10 their diversion The grade of the
river Is SO fiat that diversion canal taken
out at the rivers bed must have SO slight 2
Il fail and so low ~ velocity that it would
quickly fill 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 river sometimes discharges mini
| mum of about 1900 cubic feet per second. Its
maximum discharge is unknown, but prOba-
bly, exceeds One-haf million cubic feet per
| second. As the river is supplied mainly by
melting SHOWS, its season OF high water cul-
| inmates in June, and the low water season is
In the winter. when its sources are frozen.
The river is nayigated more or less from its
mouth to the Needles by flat-bOttom, stern
| wheel boats, which sometimes even ascend to
| the mouth of Virgin river. Its navigation,
however, is so difficult and precarious as to
! make it almost useless. Al low water the
| channel is so broad, shallow and changeable
that boats arc 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
| iuctuatiOn 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.
/ X comprehensive project is here present ted,
which, if upon investigation, is found i'm
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, both important requisites
for the mining industry. The proposed plan
| Will completely solve both problems.
sUDTRoPICAL CLIMATE.
All of the land that can be irrigated from
the lower Colorado may be regarded as haV-
.lg a semi-tfopical climate, where the grow
ing season for most products continues the
year round-the REQ uirementS 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 i'll January;
( and that a stream with the maximum flow of
two cubic feet per second i'll July furnishing
about 1909 acrefeet per annum, Will supply
200 acres Of land.
1t is probable that with proper regulation
the Colorado river will be able 10 furnish
continuous stream of wafer for industrial
uses, varying from 10 eco cubic feet per second
in winter 10 10000 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 st present This viii be Suf1i
cient to irTieatc 2,@0.G00 acres CT land, ana is
so f;lr. in excess oi the requirements below the
Grand Canyon that no restriction need 10 be
put upon storage ard diversion OF waters
from the tributaries Ofthe Colorado.
A considerable portion OF the valleys Of the
lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains
subject TO occasional foundations, 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 alkali. All these it is proposed to re-
claim by impounding upon them the silt
which annually passes down the Colorado
tivcr.
SERIES OF DAMS.
The general plan here proposed is the pro-
isOn of a series of reservoirs on the Colo
hdO river by the construction OF high dams
numerous points where the topography is
eOTable and where the possible storage is
arge. All of these dams will be provided
It'll large sluiceways through the base, in
rider that the stored waters may be entirely
raWn of, together with their load of silt,
henever ii is found desirable to do SO. The
eservOirs will serve as settling basins fQr~scd-
nent The dams will also be utilized to
aise the waters into canals, for the double
purpose of enclosing more irrigable lands by
uch canals and of giving them n velocity
efficient to carry a large amount of sediment
suspension until it can be deposited upon
he fields. The declivity given to the canals
Eitl depend largely upon the character Ofthe
oil, and will be the highest permissible with
ut involving destructive erosion. The fall Of
he Colorado river is SO slight that reSer-
oirS of enormous capacity may be construct
d without involving dams of impracticahle
height At any time, by opening the Sluicc-
Ways OF me reservoir, the current of the river
III quickly cut a channel through the de-
ositeu sediment from the upper end of the
eservoir to- the sitEfce gates; this being the
bngeSt dimension and deepest part of the
eservOir will In all eases form an important
art of this storage capacity, and to this ex
ent every reservoir can be permanently kept
yiear OF sediment without expense. With
this exception. each reservoir is expected to
gradually fill; when this occurs ii is proposed
to draw down the surface of the reservoir
permanently 20 to 70 feet, and to convert an
of the reservoir site except the river channel
into irrigated farming land, and, If necessary,
construct another reservoir for storage puF-
poses higher up on the stream. This policy
will greatly increase the grable area. 1t viii
then be practicable, whenever desired, to
close the sluiccs and inundate all Of the agri-
cultural land in each filled rcSeTv Or and thus
fertliZe II, as is naturally done by the riVeY
Nile for the valley. This is done artiffeialIy
in some parts Of Europe and Africa. With
the deep. alfuvfal soil, semi-tFCpicai climate,
arid atmosphere, abundant water supply,
and the possibility OF fertiiZing the fields
every year without expense. it is believed
that such regions can be farmed the year
round, and several crops taken Off annually,
an acreage production being thus attained
entirely without precedent in history.