Arizona silver belt., 1906-05-10
SALTON SEAS INFLUENCE
u Has No AppreoiabIe Effect On Climate
10 the Opinion Of Expert


The chief of the weather bureau, il
reply to an inquiry from resident Of
Yavapai county as to the effect of Sal
ton Sea on the climate of Arizona,
dwells upon the fallacy of the theory
that d change in the climate of the ter
ritory has resulted from the filling of
the Salton Sink. The views dis embod-
led in the letter are clear and eompre-
hensive, and impart much valuable in
formation concerning the true causes of
the aridity of this section. The letter
is, in part, as follows:
The greatest difficulty in ascribing
the heavy rains that have been expert
enced in Arizona during the last two
winters to the formation of an artificial
lake in the Salton Sink lies in the fact
that the rains came first, fast that
should be recalled by clear thinking
people of the southwest. If my inform
alton is correct, the canal through which
the original diversion of water was
made was not finished until November,
1904. The phenomehally heavy rains in
Arizona came in January, 1905, about a
month after the completion of the ca
nal, and several months before there
was any sembance Of lake in the Sal
ton Sink.
''It was the floods caused by the
heavy rains in Arizona and contiguous
territory that destroyed the temporary
headworks of the canal, and thereby
opened the way to a complete diversion
of the waters of the Colorado and the
formation of the present lake.
THE effect of this artificial body of
water on the climate of the southwest
may be considered as practically nil. 1t
is true that the evaporation of water
from the lake surface will be much
greater than from the desert that for
merly occupied its bed, but in the alb
sence of factors which produce condens-
alton, the increased amount of water
vapor thrown into the air avails nothing
so far as rainfall is concerned. 1t is
not possible to condense it so that it
will be returned to the earth as rain.
The same is true of water that passes
into the air ir the form Of vapor from
the Gulf of California. The shores of
that body of water are probably about
as arid as can be found in any part of
the globe. The true reason for its arid
ity is to be sought in the general circu-
lation of the atmosphere, as modified
by the action of continental masses,
rather than in local topography or prox-
unity of large bodies of water.
''In the region of the Great Lakes
the precipitation on the leeward side of
the several lakes is probably little
greater than on the windward side, but
the difference is not of moment. In
the matter of temperature, however,
there is decided amelioratlon of the
rigors of winter due to the influence of
the lake waters, and likewise the ex
IRENE neat OF summer is ulmlnlSne0,
on the leeward side of the
lakes.
sit seems probable that the temper
ature conditions in the vicinity of Sal
ton Sink will be slightly affected by
the presence of that body of water,
the most noticeable being a tendency
to higher temperatures in winter along
the shores of the lake and thus pro-
lection against frost, and slightly lower
summer temperatures along the lee
ward shore. Doubtless the lower tenn
peratures will be more insufferable
than those formerly experienced by
reason of the increased humidity. In
any event the influence of this body of
water situated in the heart of the desert
cannot extend much if any beyond ten
miles from its immediate shores.
"The people of the Southwest should
not be led to expect the slightest modi
fication of climate as a result of the
formation and continuance of the Sal
ton Sea-"