The Arizona sentinel., 1905-02-01
THE GREAT COLORADO RIVER

| The great Colorado river Is the largest ! stream, both in drainage area and discharge. I that lies wholly within the arid portion of | the United States. It is formed by the juno ! ton of the Greer and Grand rivers, rising in i Colorado and Wyoming respectively, in ra- gons Of great precipitation, mainly In the | form of snow. Only d 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. Tine | obstacles are many. Through most Of its
 course thls river and it's tributaries flow st l the bottom of profound canyons, from " htch 1 it Is impossible tO divert them upon irTiGablc lands. The river clnerees from its canyon a ! short distance above the Need!es-thc cross 1 ing of the Santa Fe Pacific TaiiTCad-aHd has 1 c series of valleys which between thls ps:pt 1 and the Mexican liuc aggregate about oo0nc ! acres. In this region the waters are heavily 1 laden with sediment, which Is 9 serious ob- Stacle 10 their diversion The grade Of the river is so fiat that a diversion canal taken out at the rivers bed must have so slight a a fall and so low velocity that It would quickly fill with sediment from the river. For the same reason q canal must Dc very l0Hg in order 10 command any considerable area of land in the river valley.
 TWO AND QUARTER BILLION GALLONS A MINUTE.
 Measurements of the flow near Yuma show that the river sometimes discharges mini mum of about 5000 cubic feet per second. It's maximum discharge is unknown, but proba- bly, exceeds one-half million cubic feet per second. AS the river is supplied mainly by melting snowS Its 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 rom US mouth to the Needles by fiat-hottom, 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 At low water the channel is so broad. shallow and changeable that boats are continually running aground sometimes being nearly a week in advancing ten or fifteen miles. In times of high water the swift current greatly iInpairs 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, tine great Of land that can be reached by them; third, the large quantity of sediment making inn practicable any diversion on Q small scale. A comprehensive project Is here presented, which, If upon investigation, is found im- 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 ham,
 pcrcd by the great cost of power and the lack of transportation, both important requisites for the mining industry. The proposed plan i'll completely solve both problems.
 sUBTRoPICAL CLIMATE.
 All of the land that can be irrigated from the lower Colorado may be regarded as hav- iag d seni-tropical 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. IL is here assumed that the
 maximum use in July will be twice as great as the minimum requirements m January; and that a stream with the ma ximun flow Of two cubic feet Der second in July, furnishing about 1Oc9 acrc-fcet per annum, 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 90,0O0 cubic feet per second in summer, in years of smallest discharge, al- lowing the great floods Of wet years 10 sweep 10 the sea as at present. This will be Suffi- cient Co irrigate 2,0O0 eco 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 he valleys of the lower Colorado consists of sandy flood plains subject to occasional inundatiohs, 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 alka!i. 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 q series of reservoirs on the Colo rado river by the construction of high dams at numerous points where the topography Is fs rorable and where the possible storage Is large. All Of these dams will be provided
 
 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 iment. The dams will also be utilized to raise the waters into canals, for the double purpose of enclosing more irrigablc lands by such 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 declivity given to the canals will depend largely upon the character of the soil, and will be the highest permissible with out involving destructive erosion. The fall of the Colorado river is so slight that reser- voirs of enormous capacity may be construct ed without involving dams of impracticabe height. A. any tiIne by opening tho sluicC ways of .hc reservoir, the current of the river will quickly cut a channel through the de- posited sediment from the upper end of the reservoir to the sfuice gates; this being the longest dimension and deepest part of tbe' reservoir will in all cases form an important part of this storage capacity, and to Ths CX- 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 permanently % to 10 feet, and to convert all of tsae reservoir site except the river channel ipto irrigated farming land, and, If necessary. cOysstTxst another reservoir for storage pur- poses higher up on the stream. This policy wifi greatly increase the arabic area. It will then be practicable, whenever desired, to close the sfIiees and inunda Oil of tho agri- cultural Rand iH each filled reservoir and thus fertiTize it, as is naturally done by he river Nile for the valley. This is done artifciaiiy tn some pyrfs of Europe and AfrIca. With the deep, aluvial soil, seTai-tEopical climate, arid atmosphere, abundant water supply, and the possibility of fertiiizing the fields every year witho1t expense. 1t is believed hat such regions can be farnled the year round and several crops taken of annually, an acreage production being thus attained o,1f ftrai Trjf 1psrt tn