Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-12-20
Waters of inc Colorado River Must Be Held in Check or
 Much Damage VIII Result
RIVER $ CHANGING
And the Developments of the Past Few Weeks Calls For Immediate Action By Some One in
 Authority.

Washington, Dec 20.--A giant en- gineering project, second only in diff ficulty and importance to the prob lens involved in the construction of the Panama canal, cbnfronts the United States government on the Mexican border, along the southern boundary of California and Arizona. It Is, in brief, to control the waters of the Colorado river, thus prevent ing them from overflowing what IS now habitable and fertile lands.
 The story of the Salton sea has been told in many forms and at great extent, but the developments of the past week or two in the formation of the sea and the change in the course of the Colorado river are vast ly more important than hitherto has been even imagined.
 Do you appreciate" inquired Di- rector Wolcott of the United States geological survey. that our people certainly will lose $15,00,000 and perhaps more than that unless the wild waters of the Colorado are brought under control within. a few weeks?
 That is the situation we are face to face with right now. The river very deep and with its tremendous fall very swift--has wrought out for itself a new channel along the Mexi- can boundary. The channel now runs three or four miles south of the boun- dary in Mexican territory before it swirls back into the United States. It already has overHowed much of the low land in the Imperial valley and with the coming of the spring floods two months hence the entire Imperial valley of 100000 acres will be ab- solutely wiped out. Eight or ten thousand people now there will be homeless as one result of the floods. The territory now irrigated by a great canal will be rendered unin- and the future operation of the irrigation canal will be inn- possible.
 "The diversion of the waters of the Colorado has been watched for a con siderable time and heroic efforts nave been made to prevent the stream from getting beyond control. The Southern Pacific railroad has spent at least $1,- 00O000 either directly or through the California Development Go, in its en- deavors to avert damage to it's road bed and to the surrounding country. Dams and dykes have been construct cd at various points. not only in American, but also in the Mexican territory, but they have proved inef- fectual. Owing to recent floods which in terrible effect. are incompatible with those which will come in the spring. the Southern Pacific has lost seventy miles of track and it is not unlikely that 1t may lose the great bridge at Yuma"
 Do you think the waters can be in time to avert disaster from the spring doods;"
 Possibly" replied Director Wal colt: but it will require prompt and action and the expenditure of an enormous amount of money. If the Imperial valley Is to be saved we scarcly will have time to wait until congress shall have enacted legisla- tion on the subject
 In the opinion of engineers of the reclamation service who have inves- tigated the matter 1t will be neees- sary for the work of control to begin. at least. fin Mexican territory. To that end the state department has ob- tained from the Mexican government permission to send corps of en- eineers and bodies of workmen into Mexican territory. They will begin operations very soon. The work could have been done before this had the engineers engaged on 1t fully the seriousness of the situ- alton and been equal in ability to the emergency: but their methods were archaic and the works they con- were undermined and swept away by the terrific force of the waters.
 1t means much not alone to the people of the southwest that the Col prado be brought under control. but 10 the whole people of the United states. for the territory that msy be devastated constitutes some Of the