Irrigation in Southern California

As an example of the beneficent results of irrigation of desert lands, a project which has been undertaken in Southern California is probably one of the most notable in America, for its promoters selected a region most of which was entirely devoid of vegetation in any form, the soil, if it can be called such, not even containing enough elements of fertility to nourish the sparse vegetation found in the so-called desert of the Southwest. Prior to the reclamation of this land, one could travel for miles without seeing any vegetation. Most of the area referred to forms a part of the Colorado Valley, and is situated in San Diego County. The head of the canal was located on the river at a point seven miles west of Yuma, Arizona, and but a short distance from the boundary between California and Mexico. Here the elevation is 120 feet above sea level, a sufficient altitude to give an average fall of from four to six feet to the mile. It was found impossible to construct the waterway in a straight line, owing to the topography of the country, and in its course it makes a wide detour, passing through a portion of the Mexican republic. It is unique from the fact that it is probably the only international irrigation canal in the world, the water being used to cultivate a considerable area in the southern republic.