Imperial Valley press., 1919-12-10
REPAIR W|ER
UNDER OLD
Pc R N | I,
BELIEF
Superintendent F. N. Cr0n-
holm Makes Assertion in
Report to Board of Direc-
tors; Much Sand in Canal

The wier in the Colorado river can
be repaired under the existing permit.
in the opinion of Superintendent f. N
Cronholm in a report on the recent
flood to the directors which in full is as
follows:
Board of Directors,
Imperial Irrigation District,
Ell Centro, California,
Gentlemen:-The recent Colorado river
flood reached gage height 1888 feet at
Yuma at IS p M, November 80, or a
discharge of about 100000 cubic feet
-ger second At the time of the peak,
the water surface slope between Yuma
and the weir was eight and one-half
feet. With this slope the mean veloci.
ty was 900 feet per second of time.
The total rise amounting to slightly
over IL feet No damage occurred to
Yuma or to the United States reclama-
ton project. In fact, the water barely
reached the levee north of Yuma. West
and south of Yuma the areas were
small where the water topped the river
banks.
Boom Destroyed
The flood caused the destruction of
the boom in front of Rickwood, but
Lines crossing the river, used for
holding the boom out into the stream,
were caught by debris This wrecked
the towers on the Arizona shore. In
replacing the boom / hope to change
the scheme of boom control so that
lines crossing the river will not be
needed.
Much sand entered our canal during
the flood. 1t is estimated that the canal
has filled depth of five feet for about
twothirds of the distance between
Hanlon and lockwood. The inflow of
sand was unavoidable owing to large
sand waves Immediately in front of
lockwood.
The pressure on lockwood gate was
reduced by transferring some of the
head to Hanlon gates.
All of the dolphins Immediately above
the Weir still remain, though the third
one from the Arizona shore is leaning
down stream, The danger of their
possible future loss can be lessened by
reducing their height more than has
already been done. The weir proper
shows considerable damage 1t is hard
to determine the extent of injury owing
to there being about $4,000 cubic feet
in the river at the present time. How
ever, it is expected that such breaches
as exist can be repaired under the ex-
listing permit
BLOW WEIR OUT
The blowing out done at the request
of the United States reclamation serv-
ice and the Yuma Water Users Asso-
citation, November 30, consisted merely
of lengthenng the weir crest and not
in lowering the weir proper Conse-
! quently, any existing breaches We're
caused by the flood.
| Unless found necessary, / do not con-
template mkaing repairs previous to
! February, at which time / shall insert
/ bales to proper elevation. These repairs
will be necessary order to care for
/ increased water diversion Immediately
preceding the expiration of the present
weir permit
! Now Political Question
The action of the Yuma Water Users
Association apparently converts the
weir proposition from an engineering
problem to a political one. However,
! this may be, we know to a certainty
that peak water requirements come at
a time when we ar obliged to take all
of the river flow. At the time this con-
dition prevails we must have construct
ed a Weir or dam that is at least equal
in height to the depth of water to be
diverted. Otherwise, the unobstructed
flow will not enter our canal, but mere
ly continue down the river.
| We can of course, sacrifice all the
deepening accomplished by our dredg.
| ing operations i'm allowing the river
| bottom TO scour down and fill our canal
/C1ut.ouaI ~, y,aan tucA