Arizona republican., 1906-05-04
CLIMATIC EFFECT
 OF SALTON SEA
It is Practically Nil Says Chief of
 Weather Bureau Service.

Much has been written lately con corning the effect of the diversion of the waters from the Colorado river in to the Salton sink upon the climate of Arizona. Several articles have ap- peared in the news papers tending to show that a large flow of water into the Salton sink has ccnanged the eli mate of the southwest to an apprecia- ble extent It is even asserted that since the Salton sink became moder- ately full the temperature of the air was greatly modified and the rainfall largely increased thereby
 In order to obtain more definite in
 formation relative to the supposed changes in the climatic conditions. a prominent resident of Yayapai county addressed the chief of the Weather bu
 reau upon the subject as follows: 'I am keenly interested in the probable prevailing weather in this section of Arizona, YaVapai county and vicinity The past two years have been wet
 preceded by several dry years. It is rumored that these rains are caused by the presence of a large lake formed in
 the 'Salton sea region of California
 through the breaking of the large and extensive dyke located at the intake of the Imperial Canal Co. and by which the entire flow of the Colorado river has forced its way into the SaIton sink several hundred feet below the river
 bed. If this is true, it would mean
 that the future years would be wet all so. Of course you are thoroughly fla miliar with all of the facts in the mat ter and can give me more accurate
 information. I shall be obliged for an expression of your views upon this all-impOrtant question:
 In the reply to this communication, the chief of the Weather bureau dwells particularly upon the fallacy of the theory that a change in the climate of the territory has resulted from the fill | ing of the Salton sink The views as
 embodied in the letter are clear and comprehensive. and impart much val uable information 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 experi-
 enced in Arizona during the last two
 winters to the formation Of an artifi-
 cial lake in the Salton sink lies in the
 fact that the rains came first. a fact
 that should be recalled by clear think
 ing people of the southwest. If my in
 formation is correct, the canal through
 which the original diversion of water
 was made was not finished until No
 vember 1904 The phenomenaIly heavy
 rains in Arizona came in January, 1905.
 about month after the completion of
 the canal, and several months before
 there was any semblance of a lake in | the SaltOn sink.
 Tt was the floods caused by the heavy rains in Arizona and contigu-
 ous territory that destroyed the tenn | pOraTy headWOFkS Of the canal and l thereby opened the way to a complete diversion of the waters of the Cobra i do and the formation of the present ! lake 4
 'The effect of this artificial body of water on the climate of the southwest
 may be considered as practically nil It is true that the evaporation of water l from the lake surface will be much greater than from the desert that for merlY occupied it's bed. but in the ab- | sence of factors which produce conden- satIOh, the increased amount of water 1 vapOr thrown into the air avafls noth- | ing as far as rainfall is concerned. It ] is not possible to cOndense it so that it ] will be returned to the earth as rain l The same is true of water that passes ] into the air in the form of vapor from 1 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 of it's arid ! lty Is to be sought in the general cir | culation of the atmosphere, as modi- | fled by the action of continental mass es, rather than in local topography or | proximity of large bodies of water. Tn the region of the Great Lakes
 the precipitation on the leeward side