THE MIGHTY COLORADO. 



167 



According to the reports of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, the lands in the southern part of Lin- 

 coln County, Nevada, adjacent to the Colorado, are 

 mainly 1,000 feet or more above the river. At points 

 below the mouth of the canyon there are a few locali- 

 ties where valley lands of lower altitude are to be 

 found, notably the Cottonwood valley and Mohave 

 valley, but these are relatively of small extent. In 

 the eastern ends of San Bernardino and San Diego 

 counties, California, the land has a less elevation, and 

 a large portion of it could no doubt be irrigated by 

 diverting the Colorado river. In the latter county is 

 located what is widely known as the " Colorado 

 Desert," a part of which lies much below the sea 

 level and also below the channel of the Colorado at 

 that point. The unproductive part of the desert, 

 known as " Dry Lake," could be filled and replen- 

 ished from the Colorado, and a large area of arable 

 land on its margin irrigated from the same source. 

 If this should ever be accomplished, the following 

 lines will no longer fittingly apply to the famous Col- 

 orado Desert: 



"A purple sheet of cloudless sky 

 That bends with downward slant to meet 



Gray, shifting sands, that silent lie 

 Becalmed beneath the awful heat. 



No green blade springs in that sad land, 

 No bird-wing beats the heavy air; 



The marvel of a blighted hand 



Vast, silent desert everywhere " 



The necessary works for irrigating, however, must 

 be of the most expensive character, on account of 

 the great floods in the Colorado and the difficulties of 

 maintaining headworks of a permanent character 

 where the canals and the river have about the same 

 altitude. Near and below the Mexican line the pro- 

 portion of low or mesa land increases, and from data 

 now at hand it seems probable that a large canal 

 heading in the United States territory, some distance 

 above Yuma, on the east side of the Colorado, 

 can be made to cover extensive areas near the border 

 line. Why should an abundant supply of water be 

 permitted to pass these lands and have so little use 

 made of it for irrigation purposes? Must that vast 

 domain remain a " barren waste ?" Is it not possible 

 to redeem a portion of it at least? At present the 

 land is useless and the water is useless. "A barren 

 waste" and "an aquatic waste" are incompatible 

 terms when applied to this desert country with the 

 Colorado flowing through it. 



WHAT MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED. 



In view of the statements given above is it not 

 possible to make the water of the Colorado more 

 available for irrigation in order to develop the re- 

 sources of that section of the country? At certain 

 points where the relative altitude of the land and 

 river and other conditions are favorable, dams could 



be erected. Doubtless, in some places, these dams 

 would give the water sufficient elevation for entering 

 flumes or channels that would conduct it directly to 

 the land to be irrigated. If dams were erected, 

 power could be obtained for elevating a portion of 

 the water to any desired height, so that it could be 

 conducted to the foothills, mesas and other lands. 

 Water raised by hydraulic power would give a regu- 

 lar supply which could be conducted directly to the 

 land or to reservoirs. This method would not be 

 subject to the usual disturbances caused by the rising 

 and overflowing of the river. Where the land to be 

 irrigated is barred by hills or bluffs, tunnels and 

 syphons could be used. 



"Death Valley," in Inyo county, California, is also 

 below the sea level. There are thousands of acres of 

 arable land in the vicinity of the celebrated " Dry 

 Lake," lying below the level of the Colorado. Would 

 it not be a good investment to erect a dam at some 

 point along the course of the river, and cut a channel 

 that would divert its elevated waters so that " Death 

 Valley " may be filled, and the surrounding desert 

 reclaimed by irrigation? At times when there are 

 great floods in the Colorado the excess of its waters 

 could be conducted into this and other " dry lakes," 

 which, if filled, would be vastly beneficial to that 

 desolate country. Possibly places could be found 

 where water could be held or stored for future use. 

 If the surplus waters were thus drawn from the 

 Colorado, the irrigating works and cultivated valley 

 lands, where the bed of the river and the surround- 

 ing country are on about the same level, would be 

 protected from its frequent and destructive over- 

 flows. Doubtless if " Death Valley" were filled, the 

 water would make its way on the surface or through 

 subterranean passages to the other " dry lakes " in 

 that vicinity. 



Col. J. C. Fremont recommended that the govern- 

 ment appropriate sufficient funds to defray the ex- 

 pense of cutting a channel so that " Dry Lake," in 

 the Colorado desert, could be filled from the Pacific 

 ocean or from the Gulf of California. No doubt he 

 was well informed in regard to the advantages that 

 would result from such an enterprise. A number of 

 others from time to time have suggested the same 

 project. If " Death Valley," " Dry Lake," the " Sink 

 of the Mohave,'' and other depressions that abound 

 in this desert country, could be filled with water and 

 the surrounding lands irrigated and improved, it 

 would have a powerful influence in modifying the 

 climate in that section of the country. The effect 

 would be the maintenance of an equilibrium of tem- 

 perature by rendering the atmosphere cooler in sum- 

 mer and warmer in winter. The constant evaporation 

 from the surface of the ground and inland lakes 

 would promote rain and dew fall. That hot, dry 



