1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



155 



believed that this valley near Needles 

 can more profitably be utilized by irri- 

 gation from diversion canals. 



It is probable that the normal water 

 supply available from the Lower Colo- 

 rado River, reaching' its periods of maxi- 

 mum annual discharge in June and July, 

 is more than sufficient to irrigate all 

 available agricultural lands, and conse- 

 quently reservoirs on this stream would 

 be superfluous except for the fact that 

 the impounding dams could be u.sed for 

 the generation of water power which 

 would be of value in the valle}- of this 

 stream, deprived as it is of any cheap 

 fuel or motive power. 



Below the Blue Can^-on dam site for 

 15 miles the river is in canyon, passing 

 through first the Blue and second the 

 Red Canj'ons. Here the canyon ends 

 and opens into the Chemehuevas Valle}', 

 which extends to within 15 miles of 

 Bill Williams Creek for a length of 20 

 miles. This valley is five miles wide and 

 would make a great reservoir site. No 

 opportunity is seen to present itself for 

 the extensive interior diversion above 

 this point, the grades of the valley being 

 very light and the sides rising rapidly 

 beyond the alluvial plain. The area of 

 Chemehuevas Valley is 65,000 acres. 

 The valley is occupied by a few families 

 of Chemehuevas Indians. They raise 

 5ome stock, but no cultivated fields were 

 observed. Below the Chemehuevas 

 there is a narrow valley averaging a 

 mile in width and 17 miles in length and 

 ending at the junction of Bill Williams 

 Creek with the Colorado River. The 

 grade of the river through this narrow 

 valley is light. Bill Williams Creek 

 was flowing four second- feet of water on 

 January i, 1902. 



The valley of this tributary near its 

 mouth is a mile wnde and flat, as far as 

 could be observed with a hand level. It 

 would, of itself, be a reserv'oir site of 

 ver}' respectable dimensions. One-half 

 mile below the mouth of this tributary 

 there is a dam site. The width of the 

 stream at the present water level is 4 1 o 

 feet. A dam 60 feet high would hold 

 back the water some 40 miles, with an 

 average width of 2)^ miles, covering 

 100 square miles of the Colorado Valley 

 proper. 



There are no cultivated lands or other 

 improvements in the basin of the reser- 

 voir site, except one five-stamp mill on 

 the right bank about 10 miles above the 

 dam site. The surrounding coimtry 

 between the Needles and Yuma ap- 

 parently is mineralized, and many pros- 

 pects are being worked between these 

 points. The principal difficulty encoun- 

 tered is that of power for the operation 

 of the mills. There are one or two 

 houses near the mouth of Bill Williams 

 Creek, and at Empire Elat, below the 

 dam site, there are some comfortable- 

 looking dwellings. The distance from 

 Bill Williams Creek to Empire Flat is 

 14 miles, and from Empire Flat to 

 Parker, the agency for the Colorado 

 Indian Reservation, it is 15 miles. 



From Empire Plat to Parker the river 

 is in a narrow vallej- with little irrigable 

 land. The Colorado Indian Reserva- 

 tion extends from Monument Peak to 

 Ehrenberg. The distance from the 

 agenc}^ at Parker to Ehrenberg is 59 

 miles. The bottom lands are almost 

 entirely on the Arizona side of the river, 

 and between Parker and Ehrenberg lie 

 mostly within the Indian Reservation. 

 There are said to be some 300 to 400 

 Indians located here, but no agricul- 

 tural developments of any magnitude 

 were noticed. A canal heads on the 

 river two miles above Parker, but its 

 present intake is too high to divert water 

 at the present low stage, and a subsid- 

 ary pumping plant lifts water into the 

 canal. A few feeble attempts at irriga- 

 tion were observed near the pumping 

 plant. A wagon road is now^ being con- 

 structed from the Needles to Parker, 

 the distance being 70 miles. Water 

 may be had at a half-way point. 



To the w^est from Parker and on the 

 California side of the river there is a 

 pass that possibly might be reached 

 with a dam 100 feet high at Bill Wil- 

 liams Creek, and a canal 50 miles long. 

 This, however, is extremely doubtful. 

 It was impossible to determine these 

 relative elevations without extended 

 surveys. 



A prominent peak, known as River- 

 side Mountain, is 20 miles by river be- 

 low Parker and 12 miles in a straight 

 line. At a projecting point on the Ari- 



