Imperial Valley press., 1909-10-23
COLORADO'S NEW WAY
 TO GULF EXPLORED
Expedition of Engineers Afloat in the Forest of Baja
 California
River Has Left Its Bed and Is Going to Gulf by Way of Abejas and the Hardy Explorers Have a Lively Trip and Return With Valuable Information.

LnTOTIIldNiOIis
 The cratic Colorado has done what watchers of the river suspected it a changed~its course in Baja California and is flowing to the gulf through the channel of the Hardy, leaving its old bed about twenty miles below Yuma and inundating large area of delta land west of the old channel and south of the divide that marks the ancient southern shore of the Salton basin. But for mans interference, the Colorado would now, be pouring it's flood through the Alamo and New rivers into Salton Sea in fragrant contempt of the United States District Court. The levee built last year from the base of Black Butte across New River where it leaves Volcano Lake turns the water southward into the Hardy. If that levee had not been built, about half of the flood would come down New River, wash out the Hume and leave the West Side with out water for irrigation. The Black Butte levee and the Bowker gate con- stitute the only effective injunction against a permanent submergence of the salt works now at the bottom of the sea- The Colorado is lawless stream and has no respect for courts.
 Conditions in the delta have been ascertained by party of explorers that left Calexico on Wednesday, Oc- tober IS. and spent week in the flooded forest of mesquite and will lows The members of the party were: Chief Engineer F. c. Herr mann and Roy Kincaid of the c. D. Company; Supt. c. K. Clarke of Wat CT Company Mo- 1; Supervisor Me Harg, Harold Bell Wright, Allen Kelly Foreman Albert Robinson of the c. M. Co.,; Jack Scroggins. COW -puncher and marine engineer, and three Coco DCin LnC CApCulIiOh CllDGtl h- ed at the Bowker gate on the gaso- line launch Lucy B and sailed up New River into Volcano Lake, which is higher than usual and covers some thirty or forty square miles, although it's waters have fallen about three feet in the last four weeks. Most of ho 1t,b; ;oh hA lake takes it's name are submerged and temporarily out of business, but few are still steaming and making bad smells. The water comes into the lake from the east and south through numerous sloughs draining the overfowed land and goes out to the southwest into the Hardy. At tempts to sail up the intake were blocked by the thickness of the for est and the absence of clearly de- fined channels. It was evident that most of the water was coming from the Rio Abejas or Bee River, but the main channel could not be found read fly, and even the small boats lowed by the Lucy B could not be forced far through the jungle.
 The expedition gave up the attempt to explore Bee River from that end and decided to attack the problem in the flank by going down the Hardy and up the Pescador. Thursday night was spent at the junction of the liar dy and the Pescador Measurement of the discharge of the Hardy show ed about 4,2O0 second feet flow above the junction of the Pescador The flow of the Pescador about twen- ty miles above the fork was found to be 13OO second feet At no point could the entire discharge from the overflow be measured because of the intricate network of channels and sloughs in the delta, but approxi- mately one half of the volume of water passing Yuma was accounted for definitely by measurements made by the party.
 iho Lucy ID Wcht uP 'h0 IosObuoi on Friday, and the night was spent at the C-M. camp on the river. On Saturday the expedition fought it's way against a swift river through forest drift to a point where several channels came together to form the Pescador The old course of the riv- CT above the forks could not be de- termined because of the changes made by this years great flood, The lar gest body of water was coming in