The Washington herald., 1907-02-10
Attempt to Turn the Course
Of the Colorado.
TO SAVE a FERTILE REGION
Breach in n Canal Turned Waters of
Great Stream Into Imperial VAL
ley, Which the Government and
the Southern Pacific Are Trying TO
Rescue-RooSevcIt's Intervention.

Oniy from now Untl the SPRING uOOu or
the Colorado River TO save permanently
a tract of land in Southern California,
known as the Imperial valley, which con-
talns 7o0.0oO acres, is supporting a popula-
ton Of from 5000 to 10000, viii be WORTH
IN a few years more than $7o00oO.00O and
can in time. furnish homes for 50o,000 cit
liens. says the Boston Herald.
It has the greatest agricultural and hor-
uculturaI possib Hties of any section of
land in the country, this Imperial, or
SaltOn Sink, country. II has been aptly
compared by President Roosevelt, Nand by
others better acquainted with it than he,
to the rich valley of the Nile. one OF the
most fertile tracts in the civilized world.
And 1t has been in grave danger Of ire
mendous damage for many months.
Efforts to irrigate the land have Deen
mismanaged up TO date. In the first
place, persons have been lured there by
roseate statements In the second place,
there was not enough money to go ahead
properly. In the third place, the promo
tiers built for the day only. as if they were
afflicted by the manana philosophy Of the
1IeXicaus vino are all around them. IN
the fourth place-bUt one might go on
placing" almost indefinitely.
Mismunaged Irrigation scheme.
The big fact is that the irrigation
scheme has been mismanaged and thaJ is
is up to the United States and the rail
road company. which recently has ac-
quired a 81 per cent interest i'm the stock
of the promoting company 10 stem the
Colorado and make ii return 10 It's old
Ichannels President Roosevelts recent
message 20 Congress reviewed the history
OF the attempted exploitation Of the land
land took the promoting company severely
TO task.
How strongly he felt about il may be
seen by q perusaI Of his long message.
The last paragraph runs. IF Congress
does not give authority and make dde-
fCUate provision to take up this work in
the way suggested it must BE- inferred
THAT il acQuiesces in the abandonment OF
1.-THE government work at Laguna and OF
IAN future attempts q utilize the-rsIuable
public domain in this part Of the country.
When the President sent his message 10
} Congress the waters OF the Colorado We're
/ entirely out of their old channel and flow
I ing into the SaltOn Sink country from a
/ breach I'm the banks q few miles across
/ the boundary line. There is great val
/ ley TO be filed for parts Of the region
are -61 feet below the level OF the sea-
! Already a lake Of about 900 square miles
/ has been created towns and industries
/ have been ruined, and railroad tracks
/ have been washed away.
Result OF Get-rich-quick Policy.
+ in Some places the water has been
/ rushing along with a far-reaching roar
and flooding the lower depressions with
+ 20 feet OF water At one time the now
channel of the Colorado was 100 feet
wide and 20 feet deep. And the occasion
F Of Il all was hand-to-mouth get-rich-
quick policy of the wizards OF finance
who were behind the scheme.
II the water Is ever removed from the
Sait0n sea couHtry-aud il is thought
/ that the sun will evaporate j., all in time
+ the land itself viii have been improved
rather than damaged. by the food rich
( bed OF silt. which the Colorado carries
along. 10000 tons of IL daily. has been
+ deposited. AS soon as the water Is taken
I away the valley win respond to the eff
/ forts of the farmer as luxuriousIy as co
+ the flats Of the Nile
/ Tn days gone by the Gulf Of California.
/ into which the Colorado normally emp
/ ties, extended many miles farther north
I
far TO the north the river Numbered
along through deep Caverns. hundreds of
/ feet deep In many places and found the
Gulf Of California through a mountain
pass near the present town of Indie
There. probably. began the sort of prO-
cess which is going on at the delta az
the Mississippi River to-day. and which
/ goes on near the mouth Of every large
river to a greater or less extent. The
silt, detritus. OF muck which is carried
} in solution, and which consists mainly OF
pulverized stone and vegetable matter,
was heaped I'D ON each side of the river
as it flowed more slowly at the mouth
Much of it also sank 10 the bottom The
delta was thus created. The Colorado
filled Up all of what is the Imperial Val
ley from Indio down to the very Gulf of
California
Mighty Hot Place.
Now. Imperial Valley is one Of the hot
test places in the United States Its eli
mate is Of a kind with that lot part OF
the country where Mark Twain's bad
man dwelt and to which, after death and
a journey TO another hot place. he sert
for his blankets. The toad. the snake
and the scorpion in that valley have been
living in earth which was once rich mud,
and which needs only a little toy layer OF
mud and plenty of water to-day to make
it blossom and bloom.
But the Colorado River did more than
make a delta. Ii raised the level Of its
own channel by depositng mud at the
bottom. The river now flows for many
miles in Mexican and American territory
in an elevated channel the waters being
kept from inUndating the surrounding
country by Ievees Of various kinds
As the entire cultivated area of South
ern California is only z50,00 acres, and
this Salton sea country had almost three
times that much. spectators figured on
improving it. They formed various kinds
of companies, subsidiary, collateral, and
principal. They advertised widely. Their
offers were alluring and those persons, /
especially, who were' land hungry were
iured. Considerable money was raised.
and some of it kept. \ canal was made
in the Colorado River, on the American
side of the boundary, and a stream OF
water sent toward the Salton Sink The
scorpion and the rattlesnakc disappeared
The valley became fruitful
Then came call for more water This
time the canal was made from the Colo
RADIO il Mexican territory 1t was done
hastily and improperly. "The making OF
this cut in a bank composed of light allu- |
vial sell above a depression such as this. /
without controlling devices. was criminal /
negligence said President Roosevelt Of I
the piece Of work in his message.
Overlooked Into the Valley.
The inevitable happened. With the com
ing of the spring flood. the canal became |
wider and wider, deeper and deeper. /
Finally, the whole flow OF the Colorado /
diverted itself into the Imperial Valley /
After II had lost r,uch rronarty tb,