San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-08-30
DESERT LANDS
To BLOOM BY
IRRIGATION
100000 Acres in Arizona
to Get Abundant
Water.

Los ANGELES, Aug. 30. = Be
tween wellton and Phoenix there lies
more than 100000 acres of Arizona
desert. An empire as great as the
Imperial Valley of California has
lain for ages a sun-baked, sandy
waste. Its reclamation. soon to be
accomplished, provides another ro-
mantle chapter to the fascinating
story of the winning Of the West, I"
says the Los Angeles Times in a re-
cent issue.
Two reasons are responsible for
the opening of this vast agricultural
country-constructi of the main line
Of the Southern Pacific Railway from
Wcllton to Phoenix and the discovery
Of q bountiful water supply few
feet under the floor of this great des-
ert. The railway is now under actual
construction and test wells have prov
cd that irrigation water is present in
abundance. Mans ingenuity and in
dustry will soon accomplish won
de-s.
:. Not only are Yuma and Phoenix
greatly interested in this newest If
western development, but Los An
geles is kcenly alive to the possibili-
ties to be derived from this vast
acreage.
An idea of the possibilities Of this
new block of country can be gained
BY comparing it 10 Imperial Valley,
which a few years ago was an unde-
veIoped stretch of sand. In 1874 I'm
pcrial county had So, 225 acres I'M
der cultivation, a population OF more
than 10000 and an assessed property
valuation of SAG, ,746. The new
district, directly tributary TO the new
railroad contains more than 100000
acres Of the same fertile soil, all ca
pablo of irrigation from the hidden
waters Of the ella river and its trfbu-
taries, which drain the section. Like
California gold found in the wagon
tracks of prospectors who died in
its reach. this vast water supply lies
just a few feet below the deserts
surface. where hundreds have persisted
Of thirst.
The ella river is one of those mys-
terry streams which have hidden under
the surface from the hot rays of the
desert sun. These "sun dodgers
are found on all great deserts and
make an almost human effort to save
their waters from rapid evaporation
by seeking subterranean channels.
This great water system, supposed
for years to consist of a great "dry
wash and a series Of insignificant,
dried-up creeks, has a drainage area
Of 1000 square miles and is one CT
the great river systems of the West.
Heading in the White Mountains OF
New Mexico, which attain an altitude
Of 1900 feet, where an average Of
30 inches annual rainfall prevails. the
ella drains ell Of Southern Arizona,
with tributaries as far north as San
Francisco peak, near Flagstaff, and
as far south as Old Mexico, by way
of the Santa Cduz river.
With an annual discharge from the
mountains to the mesas and more than
100000 acre-feet of water. the ella
river emerges at Yuma with a trifle
more than 100000 acre-feet. Tue
remaining 100000 acre-feet repre-
sent the veritable ocean of water lying
underground TO the east of Yuma in
the new section TO be brought into ae-
sessibility BY the new line being built
by the Southern Pacific Railroad.
The ease Of bringing the hidden
water TO the surface seems almost an
impossible story. A ten-inch hole re-
Gently sunk on the high Wellton mesa,
40 miles east of Yuma, produces 1000
gallons of water a minute. Ten such
wells would produce n water supply
equal TO 100000 gallon a day.
Last year Imperial Valley produced
a carload of crops for each of its 90
600 population and added more than
SJ0.Co0te0 TO the nations wealth. The
Wellton district insists they have
every natural advantage of the Cali
fornia valley and are determined 70
create another wonderland from what
is desert now.