Imperial Valley press., 1919-10-28
DRAINAGE AN IMPORTANT
PROBLEM IN THE VALLEY

The Imperial Valley Press here
with presents in installmentr the
report OF Walter W. Weir OF the
University of California on Drain
age Problems of Imperial Valley"
Ii Will be published in full.
Mr.. Weir was here Last winter at
the beht-t Of various organizations
in the Valley and his report has
just been made public ana contains
much interesting news.
close scrui;qy OF the report will
enable land owners and others III
the Valley 10 become familiar with
the drainage problem.
Introduction
In In" fan OF 1915 the 1mperia
County Earm bureau after being urged
hy several farm ccnters and individual
water users, requested the College o,
Agriculture OF the University OF Cali
fornia TO conduct such drainage invests
cations in the Imperial Valley as might
lead TO an Improvement of existing con
G!tions. The Division of Soil Tcchnology
undertook these Investigations and sub
mits the following preliminary repor,
which takes UP the question OF drain
ago IN the Imperial valley under three
heads namely
]. The nature, cause.. extent, An6
probable increase in the aIsaN ant
waterIogged condition OF The VaIlsy.
.. a general discussion OF The typs
irrigation and economic conditions
- I.y.{,, , -
desired relief
=. The nature Of the organizat tioT
best suited for putting into effect ant
financing such drainage works and i'm
DIoVera"ats AZ are ncces9arN.
imnerial Valley
Imperial Valley lies in the extreme
southern part OF California occupying
the central portion Of Imperial county
The cultivated part OF the valley, com
prising approximately $4,000 acres o
irrigated land, extends from the Mex
lean border on the south 10 the Saltol
sea on the north. The cultivated pO.
t!On OF the valley is below sea !eve! be
ing cut OF from the Gulf OF Californi;
by the Colorado River delta. Calexico
located at the Mexican border. has 81
elevation OF approximately sea'leve
while inland, at the northern end o
Tho Valley IS 200 feet and the waite
surface in Salton Sea Is geo feet bcloy
sea level. The distance from CaleX!c
70 inland is about 40 mil es. Tn
, VALLEY also slopes from the east toWar
the Alamo River and from the Yves
.owagd New River.
Irrigation
Water for irrigation is brought to tn
Na!lcy from the Colorado River thr
canals owned and operated by the IN
pcrlaI Irrigation District and thcr
turned oyer 70 the several mutual waite
companies, thirteen in number, VIII
distribute il through their own canal
70 the water users. Two separate o
gan!@auons eomposed Of the same ind
Viduals handle the water before it is al
piled 10 the farms. The irrigato
water * heavily laden with silt abol
one Per cent by weight. It IS esuma
ed that from 20 to 80 million cub
'yards Of solid material enter the cana
annually. A large proportion Of tn
finds its way TO the farms, the rcmail
der. lodging in the canals, necessitat'
their frequent cleaning. lrrlgatio
iWater was first brought TO the Nalle
In 1902 and the irrigated area hd
steadily Increased until at the presei
iit.e there are approximately $4,000
acres in California and 100000 acre
south OF the border under cultivation.
In 1905 and 1906 the entire flow
the Colorado River entered the Vale
through a break in tho canal headin
During this period the Alamo River W.