The Winslow mail., 1925-11-06
WATER POWER AND
FLOOD CONTROL OF
COLORADO RIVER


Colorado river below Green River,
Utah The work contains nearly
200 pages, with 100 maps and illus
trations. The report is known as
Water Supply Report 556.
The author is E. G. LaRue, hy-
draulic engineer, who has made a
study of the river during the last
Is years, in the course of which
he has made boat trips aggregat-
ing nearly 1000 miles along the
river and it's major tributaries, in
cluding the whole of the Grand
Canyon.
Less than half a century after
the discovery of America by Co
lumbus a Spanish expedition sailed
up the Gulf of California and eX-
plOred the lower reaches of the
Colorado river It was not until
the middle of the nineteenth cen
tury, however, that the river be-
gan to play an important part in
the development of the west. After
the Mexican war the lower 300 or
400 miles of the stream was ex-
plored in detail, and in 1859 Major
John Wesley Powell traversed by
boat the then wholly unknown can
yons through which it flows from
Colorado to Nevada. Prior to the
Civil war boats on the lower
reaches of the river afforded means
of transportation for a large region
lin the southwest that was difficult
of access. This navigation persist
ed until transcontinental railroads
were constructed through Arizona
and southern California late in the
nineteenth century.
The basin of the Colorado, which
affords the second largest concen-
tration Of irrigable lands and wa
terpower sites in the United States,
has for the most part an arid or
semiarid climate. and irrigation is
therefore required for the produc-
tion of profitable crops Irrigation
in the basin has been extended
slowly but steadily until more than
a third of the land irrigable from
Colorado river is now receiving
water. With the river as now reg
ulated the present irrigation con-
sumes the entire low-water flow,
and in occasional dry years there
is water shortage. Further de-
velopment of irrigation is therefore
dependent on storage of food wa
ters and regulation of discharge
The power resources of the Colo
RADIO are as yet practically untouch-
ed, but heavy demand for electric
energy in the southwest, which has
resulted in the development and
use of power sites nearby, is now
about to force rapid development
of all available power sites on the
Colorado within reasonable trans
mission distance of the markets.
AS with irrigation, SO with power,
less than a third Of the potential
energy can be developed unless
storage of flood waters and regula-
tion of discharge are provided for
Colorado river at present is not
only a source of water supply for
hundreds of thousands of acres of
land in Arizona and California, but
q 41CAclCC W I1ICoC-ld1do. LII 4OOO
the river, as it had done intermit-
tently in the past broke through it's
silty banks and forced its way into
the low-lying Salton Sea region of
California, where, instead Of the
barren desert of a few years before,
there were fourishing irrigated
ranches, farm homes, and thriving
communities, threatening them with
inundatiOn and complete destruc-
tion. Much damage was done, but
with the expenditures of millions
of dollars and more than two years
of persistent effort the river was
turned again to the Gulf of Cali
fornia. The danger of a recur-
renee of flow to Salton Sea is ever
present, and the safety of great
areas of highly productive land and
prosperous towns can be assured
only by storage of flood waters and
maintenance of a well designed
system of Ievees and the banks
work protection Thus safety
from inundation, complete use of
waters for irrigation, and adequate
development of potential power de-
mand storage and regulation works
on Colorado river.
The Geological Survey report,
published as Water-Supply Paper
556, deals with the comprehensive
development of Colorado river be-
low the mouth of Green river, with
particular reference to flood con-
troll and the development of hydro
electric power. Records of stream
flow are summarized, and estimates
of water supply available at many
points under variety of conditions
are presented. The principal res
ervoir sites are described and their
availability and usefulness are dis
cussed. Plans, cross sections, and
area and capacity curves, together
with engineering and geologic dis
cussions, are presented for all
known dam sites on nearly a thou
sand miles of river, all of which
have been surveyed and mapped.
In summarizing Mr.. LaRue sug-
gests that the scheme of develop
ment should be comprehensive and
should provide for the maximum
practicable utilization of the poten-
tial power, the maximum storage
of water for irrigation, and above
IL I,O Off II