Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., 1907-01-19
Message to Congress by President Roosevelt Regarding
 Situation on the Lower Colorado
Imperial Valley and Its Past History Along With the Fate of Laguna
 Dam Stated in Concise Terms

slope into the Imperial valley an d thence Into what Is known as Salton sink or Salton sea.
 After the mischief became apparent strenuous efforts were made by the California Development company to close the break, but these were without success. Finally the Southern Pacific company, finding Its tracks imperiled and traffic seriously interfered with, ad- vanced money to the California Devel- opment company, received as security a majority of the shares of the com pany and thus took charge of the situ- ation.
 By means of the facilities available to the Southern Pacific company the break in the west bank of the Colorado river was closed on November 4, 1906. A month. later however a sudden rise in the river undermined the poorly con- structed levees immediately south of the former break and the water again resumed its course into the Salton sea.
 The results have been highly alarm ing, as it appears that if the water is not checked 1t will cut a very deep channel, which, progressing up stream in a series of cataracts, will result in conditions such that the water cannot be diverted by gravity into the canals already built in the Imperial valley. If the break is not closed before the com ing spring flood of 1907 1t appears highly probable that all of the property values created in this valley will be wiped out, including farms and towns, as we'll as the revenues derived by the Southern Pacific company. Uti- mately the channel will be deepened in the main stream itself up to and be- yond the town of Yums, destroying the homes and farms there, the great rail- road bridge and the government works at Laguna dam above Yuma.
 It Is difficult to estimate how many people have settled in the valley, the figures varying from six thousand per- sons up to as high as ten thousand. It Is also difficult to ascertain how much money has been actually spent in real improvements. Town lots have been laid off, sold at auction and several hundred buildings erected in the Varl- ous small settlements scattered through out the tract The greater part of the public land has been taken up under the homestead or desert entry laws and sufficient work has been done to se- cure title. Some crops have been raised and under favorable conditions the output in the near future will be large.
 The actual amount of tangible wealth or securities possessed by the settler: to- day, upon which money can be rais' 
 ed Is believed to be very small. Nearly all individual property has been expend' ed in securing water rights from the California Development company o from the other organizations handling the water supply and controlled by the company. lis evident that the people have slender resources to fall back up on and in view of the threatened cal amlty are practically helpless. The California Development company Is al so unable to meet the exlgency. Th' obligations assumed by the sale of wat CT rights are so great that the propert. of the company is not adequate tc meet these obligations; in other words
 a gift of the visible property of thl