Colorado River, 1946

of all the rivers in the world the Colorado is one of the most beautiful and most useful much of the southwestern United States depends on the colorado river for water and electric power the river source is high in the Rocky Mountain fed by the clear mountain springs and melting snows Colorado this River drains nearly a quarter of a million square miles of land including parts of seven states for hundreds of miles along its middle course the Colorado flows in narrow canyons which it is worn in the surface of the earth here man is set aside one of the most beautiful parts of the rivers course as Grand Canyon National Park a little farther down the river the giant boulder dam creates Lake Mead an artificial lake a hundred and fifteen miles long the largest reservoir ever made by man at the start of its long journey to the Pacific the Colorado is a clear cold stream that runs swiftly between its rocky banks but does it flows along it picks up sand and silt the river loses its clear blue color and becomes muddy in this region the rocky banks supports so little vegetation that only hardy wild burros can thrive and without vegetation there is nothing to stop erosion of the soil every rain storm sweeps even more mud and sand into the river to be carried downstream this load of sand and mud helps the river to carve its channels deeper and deeper into the earth because each sharp-edged grain of sand becomes a tiny chisel driven by the river current at the Grand Canyon this is what the river has done after countless centuries the Colorado has gouged out this tremendous Gorge a mile deep for 220 miles wide and over 200 miles long from a plane high over the canyon we can see the river its way into the flat plateau land of Arizona over a thousand square miles of this magnificent Canyon area has been set aside by the government of the United States as the Grand Canyon National Park Colorado runs swiftly through the park the racing River and rocky bottom for many dangerous Rapids suspension bridges built across the canyon from one steep wall to the other carry the pack trains of sightseers narrow trails along the canyon walls give the tourists to close view of the rushing muddy stream below the Grand Canyon the Colorado flows into Lake Mead the reservoir created by Boulder Dam the level of the river has been raised to form this tremendous Lake between the canyon walls over 115 miles long the late covers nearly 230 square miles Lake Mead is a popular recreation area with excellent facilities for pleasure boating and swimming the lake is also a fisherman's paradise yielding black baths and other varieties all the year round but the most important shun of Lake Mead is to store great quantities of water by building Boulder Dam man has controlled and made available for use the Colorado is raging current before the dam was built the river alternated between a small stream and winter and vast floods in summer now the lower river below the dam is completely controlled as the dam keeps the flow constant and nearly uniform boulder dam itself is tremendous made of six and one-half millions of concrete and steel the highest damn ever built by man the top of the dam is broad enough for a four-lane highway above the dam spillways carry the water down to the lower river while huge intake towers feed clear silt free water into the powerhouse below the dam the boulder installation develops more electricity than any other plant in the world over a million horsepower is generated here for distribution throughout the Southwest to more than 3 million power users below Boulder Dam the Colorado runs south for 155 miles until it reaches Parker dam source of the water supply for Los Angeles water taken from the river is carried by an aqueduct 250 miles across the desert to Los Angeles both Arizona and California are benefited by Parker dam Parker power plants send electricity into Arizona and for California Parker dam stores a much-needed supply of good domestic water a large pumping station start many millions of gallons of water a day on the journey across the desert to Los Angeles along much of the way the water is pumped in giant pipes which run up and downhill through the mountains in the nearly flat desert areas the water flows in open canals finally it reaches the RIP wires of Los Angeles water system from Parker dam the Colorado flows south to Imperial damn the source of irrigation water for the desert farming country of Southern California through the all-american canal goes river water to irrigate the rich imperial and Coachella Valley's file on the Arizona side the Gila canal carries water to other farmlands Imperial damn creates no large reservoir it is designed to divert water from the river into the irrigation canals one side of the dam is a sluice that lets water go through and on down the river the other side of the dam has roller gates that control the flow of water into desilting basins these desilting basins are necessary because the river water has picked up the heavy load of sand and silt in its journey down from Parker dam the water is kept in the desilting tanks until the sand and silt has settled to the bottom then good clear water flows into the channel which is the start of the all-american canal this canal runs approximately 100 miles through the desert carrying water to irrigate the fields of Southern California's dry interior the canal gets its name from the fact that it lies wholly in the United States instead of dipping into Mexico as older canals in the same area have done when the canal reaches Imperial Valley water is carried fields by feeder ditches many fields are completely flooded to prepare them for crops that require a great deal of moisture a system of little dikes directs the flow of priceless Colorado River water to change a barren desert into rich and productive farmland alfalfa is one of the chief crops raised in Imperial Valley and tremendous yields results from the ideal growing conditions of hot Sun and plentiful water melons are another crop the tribes in Imperial Valley these cattle opes are shipped in refrigerator cars to markets all over the United States yet only cactus and lizards could survive here without the Colorado water large areas of the valley are used in growing flex this is a very valuable crop as its seeds produce oil and it's fibers may be used in textiles there are also many acres of sugar beets growing under irrigation without the help of water brought by the irrigation canal none of these crops would grow and the valley would be an arid desert besides carrying water to Imperial Valley the all-american canal also feeds another entire irrigation system by way of the Yuma canal this canal carries water to the Yuma irrigation project the Yuma project is an irrigation development which supports many plantings of citrus fruits at the East End of Imperial damn are the head works for the Gila canal justice for the All American canal on the California side of the river water diverted into the Gila canal system must have the silt removed in large settling basins then the clear water is carried by the canal for irrigation in the gila valley of Arizona below Imperial damn the Colorado a sluggish muddy river that flows through desert and irrigated lands in Mexico for 80 miles until it finally empties into the Gulf of California so man has turned the Colorado to his own use the Colorado benefits our Southwest and indirectly the whole United States Boulder Dam prevents the rivers destructive floods and provides vast quantities of electric power Parker dam stores river water to supply Los Angeles and its neighboring cities Imperial damn diverts water from the Colorado to irrigate farmlands the size beauty and usefulness of the Colorado make it one of the great rivers of America