OCR Text |
Show POWER FOR THE ENTIRE WEST There ara three needful ends to be gained in Impounding the waters of the Colorado river, all of which are of greater immediate importance to California interests than to the interests inter-ests of any other state. These are the reduction of the flood danger and the actual flood damage, particularly parti-cularly in and near the Imperial valley; val-ley; the enlargement of the area of irrigated lands in this fertile and semitropical region; and the production pro-duction of the hydroelectric energy for the growing needs of southern California. The need for curbing the flood-waters flood-waters is perennial and very important. import-ant. Being a snowfed stream, the spring freshets in the Colorado are in vast volume compared with the autumn time flow. Moreover, it carries car-ries a tremendous amount of silt, which ia deposited to comparatively great depths in the wide and sluggish slug-gish portion of the stream toward its mouth. This silt is continually reducing re-ducing the carrying capacity of the channel, thus endangering the dikes and other retaining works. To safeguard safe-guard the half million acres of irrigated ir-rigated land, worth, it has been estimated, esti-mated, one hundred million dollars, the spring and early summer flood-waters flood-waters must be brought under secure and permanent control. Coincident with flood control is the possibility of irrigating an additional addi-tional area of land, which is estimated estimat-ed to te something more than an additional ad-ditional million acres, in Arizona and California. This phase of the greater Colorado project becomes necessary, in the sense that the evisting acreage alone cannot well afford the entire expense of flood control. Finally the economic trio in water storage development, de-velopment, fclectric energy is an important im-portant by-product, in so far as it will increase the income and assist in bearing the expense of the project pro-ject aa a whole. Admittedly, however California needs are. already taken care of. In its own estimates, for at least fifteen years to come; some say fifty years. But to assure themselves of this Colorado river electric energy. ener-gy. California interests, particularly particular-ly In Los Angeles, claim to be readv to finance a major unit in the Colorado Colo-rado control development just as soon as their authority to do so has been established. The statistical statement of the problem of controling the Colorado is something like this: The stream carries about 16.200,000 acre-feet of water 1n an average year past the Laguna dam. Arizona, about 3.200.-000 3.200.-000 of which are'taken out and used for irrigation purposes farther down, leaving 13.000.000 acre-feet to go to waste into the Gulf of California this unlucky thirteen being the canoe of all the trouble. There are a half dozen major dams, paner dams let us call them, proposed and deemed to be practicable of construction, between be-tween Yuma and Wvomine. and nos-rtibly nos-rtibly a dozen smaller units on the main streem. The Boulder Canvon ('Nevada! can when fully built tip to eTnootaHnns will impound. 25,500.000 acre-feet of water; the Lee's Ferrv development, will impound a full 50.000.000 acre- feet, and the Green-Grand junction dam. 3.000.000 feet, making on the . Colorado trunk stream alone a gross Btorage capacity so great as to require re-quire more than six years of averae-p stream flow to fill the reservo'r. Indeed, In-deed, to include the sueeeste1 site" farther up the Green and the Grand, the mouth of the Colorado would he parched and dry for more than seven years while the reservoirs were full. |