Bisbee daily review., 1906-11-21
LITTLE DAMAGE ID IMPERIAL
 VALLEY
Review of the Situation Shows That Chief Damage Done By Errant Colorado Was To the Southern Pacific.

the tiiling of the Salton Sink and the Colorado riVe-:
 The engineers of the Southern Pa cific and Of the California Develop meUt company have at last controlled the flow of the Colorado river into the great SailGn Sink after working he horcsiiy Tor nearly two years The SalteR Sink is a large depression in Southern California with a minimum eleviItioa cf zs1 feet below sea level. The main inc of the Southern Pacific passes through Yuma, Ariz., and at Dryhn. twenty three miles west of Yuma. it begins 10 descend into the valley Of The SaltoR Sink. At Iris. the line has an elevation of plus 7i.6. It dcscends rapidly and for distance of /, siaty-twc mics is below sea level. the loves, point st Salton having an ele- walton of --265 feet. From Saiton the line rises to fndio. and from there be- guns uo climb grade of 100 feet to the mile tc the sumnit at Beaumont, nifty miles further west. The Salton Sink was originally no doube under inc waters of the Gulf of California. but some volcanic uDheayai cut off communication with the Pacific ocean and left this large area under water. which the heat of the sun during the cou;se of many years eyaporated and created 9 salt desert iu the southern pSrt uf s'te valley thus formed. where the elevation IS froIn-In0 feet to sea level the silt from the surrounding mountains has been gradually washed deTn and has ty,L7erted tl:e ground icto 8 fertile valley which needed only Wate,- t3 make it garden spot.
 In 1896 the California Development company was organized to build sys- ten Of canals for dlveFting part of the water of the Colorado river into sys- ten of irrigating canals and thereby raci2iming for agricultural purposes many thousand acres in the so-called Imperial valley. which lies to the south of .he Saiton Sink. A headgate was built in the north bank of the Colorado river eight miles below Yu- ma and water was turned into the main canal in March. 1902. In the summer of 1904 the head waters of this canal for a distance of about four mites below the gate became cioied with silt carried down by the summer floods, and the volume of wa ter flowing in the canal was greatly reduced. In order to provide for the large amount of water necessary to meet the demands during the winter the engineers of the company decided to dredge a temporary intake, canal aboat four miles below the permanent gate and 10 construct temporary COB trolling works pending the dredging sf the upper four miles which were choised up. In December, 1904, an un- expected Hood damaged the temporary controlling works and this was f0i- lowed by series of floods which com pieteiy destroyed them. The canal opening was rapidly enlarged by the erosion of the rapidly flowing waters. and soon the break in the bank Of the Colorado river assumed such large proportions tkat the entire flow of the river was deftected snto the msEn canal and over the surrounding coun- try. The water found it's way into the New river Both of these streams flow north into the SsIton Sink and the water soon began to rise in that depression az the rate of two or three inches 6 day By July. 1905, the WA ter had reached the tracks of the southern Pacific: and as it continued to rise short detours were built in the hope that the inflow through the break bC tVd6oitCI- S0on bcScnlt necessary to build an entirely new cetour line about forty miles long at an elevation of about seventy feet above tue old line, aud thirty-seFeu miles, Of the old line, which had beea flooded, were abandoned
 In the meantime the Southern Pa vfdo had taken oyer control of the Cal ifornia Development company in order fs. fr,s.r s.,.x iy. with the engineers of that company a1d the United States reclamation ser vice. iregua a series Of attempts at cc1troIliUg the river which had broken from iss bounds. The first attempt puade Yes to throw a dam across the .resk, but this was washed oat before { it wsB Completed. Later a jetty was / built cut iron, 2 s-sicii island opposite / the break and t vas attempted to de fleet thcS flow of ttN water away from the break anC through he channel on the other sido o5 fsie isi.sad. This was not successful Plans were then made for building 8 gate jn the break large enough to pass the entire How ot the river. brt as the situation became more and more dangerous. ard as the gaCe could not be con. .pleted for some l-schtAS dl -itdSss tl H-h ucStueu to make another attempt at closing the north channel by throwing cam across between the bank and the small island above the break This was washed out by the first flood. In De cember, 1905. work was begun on s large intake and the construction o eH earth dam to hcid back the wate as the gaze was gradually raised. This work has been going on all spring an, summer. Six trains of dUmp cars hav' been employed day and night in haul ing dirt for the dam and about 1, ,0e' men. have been at work on the jot During the week ending October l. heavy rain in Colorado increased tn discharge of the river near Yum from 5000 inches to 15,000 inches out the new works stood the test o high water. which quickly rreedei The river will now be forced to retur. to its old bed and xu danger from
 further rise of the water in the Salto Sink is probably past The Souther Pacific. however. took no chances c