104 THE DATE PALM. 



The greater part of the Salton Basin is as level as a floor and almost 

 as destitute of vegetation (see PI. XVIII, fig. 1), which renders it an 

 exceptionally favorable region to put under irrigation, since in most 

 places no leveling is required and very low dikes serve to retain the 

 water. 



The geographical position of Salton Basin is indicated by figure 10, 

 its general character is shown in Plate XVIII, figure 1, and a detailed 

 soil map, showing t}^pes of soil and the amount of alkali present, is 

 given in Plate III, page 106. The location of the area shown in Plate 

 III is indicated by the ruled space in figure 10, page 102. 



Many schemes have been broached for the irrigation of the Salton 

 Basin since it was first surveyed in 1854. Since 1891 Mr. C. R. Rock- 

 wood, of Los Angeles, Cal., has been making surve} T s and persistently 

 endeavoring to interest capital in irrigating this region. His efforts 

 have resulted in the formation of a company which in 1901 carried 

 the first water into the lower part of the Salton Basin. a Land and 

 irrigation companies formed at the same time and, working in cooper- 

 ation with the company mentioned, pushed energetically the sale and 

 development of the land irrigated by the water, and now in 1903 some 

 100,000 acres are under irrigation and it is planned to extend the canals 

 so as ultimately to irrigate most of the basin below the sea level, some 

 500,000 acres in all. 



The main diversion works are at Han Ion's Heading, some 7-J- miles 

 below Yuma, whence the water is conducted about 8 miles to the 

 channel of the Salton River, which is used to carry the water 60 

 miles to the northwest, where at the international boundary line it is 

 turned into a 60-foot canal with a capacity of 5,000 second-feet, 

 intended to irrigate all the lands lying between the Salton and New 

 rivers. After entering the United States for a short distance this 

 large canal is divided into two 30-foot canals running side by side, the 

 object being to use one while the other is being cleaned. The courses 

 of the lateral canals are shown in the map on Plate III. Other main 

 canals are planned to conduct the water from the Salton channel to 

 irrigate land in Mexico as well as lands in the Salton Basin in Cal- 

 ifornia lying east of Salton River and west of New River b (see 

 figure 10, p, 102). 



WATER SUPPLY OF THE SALTON BASIN. 



The greater part of the Salton Basin can be watered from the Colo- 

 rado River, and a large area in the basin, from Calexico, on the Mexi- 

 can boundary, to Imperial, Brawley, and northward, is now irrigated 



Means, Thos. H., and Holmes, J. Garnett. Soil Survey around Imperial, Cal. 

 In Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Third 

 Report, 1901, p. 588. 



& Means and Holmes, Soil Survey around Imperial, Cal., Field Operations of the 

 Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Third Report, 1901, pp. 588, 589. 



