Yuma Arizona Research Paper

     First, a dam can¡¦t be built with the river still flowing; diversion tunnels were created that were four-thousand feet long (Wassner 98) and fifty-six feet in diameter (Gorum). These alone took two years to build and had to be done during the winter due to the force of the rapids of the Colorado during warm weather. After the river was diverted, it left behind stinking muck. This consisted of two million cubic yards of mud and silt. The residue was hauled off exposing the bedrock of which could support the dam (Wassner 98). There was no construction company around that could raise enough money for the performance bond, so six companies combined to form Six Companies Inc. (¡§1936: Hoover¡¨). In order to support the demand of the materials for the construction of the dam, steel and aggregate plants were also created (¡§Dam one of¡¨). The railway set up before construction, as well as dump trucks were used to haul these materials and other materials to the dam site (Hernan 22).

One of the challenges developers faced while building these canals was flooding. In 1916 a major flood hit Yuma destroying buildings and homes and more reconstruction needed to be done. To make this water source lasts developers had to change these canals. By adding siphons along the canals and rivers making the water flowing and stable. Now with the water at a steady flow more Wheat, Cotton, Broccoli and Lettuce can be grown for the seasons. The Colorado River flows progressively, Indians in the desert are relying on Yuma on the

It is without saying that irrigation holds a vital role in the Yuma County and is significant in varying ways. The influence and control that it has reaches past the county and state of Arizona and affects people throughout the nation. It paved the way for superior crops, more efficient farms, and great feats of accomplishment.

Irrigation in Yuma is one of the biggest things here because half of our jobs depend on it. Describe in detail how irrigation changed Yuma/Southern Arizona. Irrigation has change Yuma and Southern Arizona half of our income is agriculture with help of irrigation.The Colorado River is the water source for Southern Arizona around 17 million people depend on the colorado river “Total population in the immediate area is estimated at 4,500 practically all dependent on agriculture” without it Southern Arizona would just a waste land. Irrigation projects in Arizona have been going since Theodore Roosevelt was in office he even turned an abandoned military fort into development of irrigation projects. Post construction for the Yuma irrigation projects the workers wages were about

The focus of chapter three was about the federal irrigation systems, which was caused by weather events. The year of 1880’s, South Dakota and nearby states survived a natural disaster. South Dakota was hit by a blizzard and in the result of that suffer from a drought right after. This is when people began to search for new homes and a place that had water and a fertile land. The drought affected most the farmers that lived in that area due to the inexperienced with irrigation. The drought helped irrigation companies start businesses to better the farming industry. Unfortunately, most of the businesses failed and shut down very quick. The state of California initialed an attempt to create a plan to conserve and ration out water. The outcome

Some challenges that Yuma County had with the Irrigation System was flooding, the use of water for crops on farmland, the supply of water for irrigation, and the transfer of water from the canals. Millions of years the Quechan Indians would depend on the flooding river to fertilize and irrigate the farmlands crops Companies had formed irrigate lands in the Yuma Valley, but they were not successful at all with this plan they thought would work.

This was a problem because the products and supply no longer Could reach people and this affected the development of everything.Not only were there problems with supplies and products but also with natural disasters. In 1916, a great flood affected the counties of Yuma because of all the water that came from the mountains. This caused a lot of damage to the city, such as breach a levee and ruining many previous records. In addition to this, the flood stopped the development since this problem blocked the roads as well as the railroads so the products as the construction materials and food could not get easily and the workers were not in the best conditions.Perhaps you do not believe that after one Flood a drought but in this case it was. The river carried a lot of sediment and this covered the irrigation canals, the water could not pass and caused the crops to wither and die quickly. The division of the water of Colorado river was the most difficult legislative aspect.Due many people depended on the water of this river, California had many duel system of water rights and the best solution to all this was to put all groups in agreement, after this they decided to build the Hoover Dam.During the construction of the Yuma Siphon, there was also some problems present. One of them was to find a way to

Irrigation is significant to Yuma County because, it has assisted agricultural growth over the years. Financially, the county of Yuma is in the top economically successful counties in the world as the crop sales are in the .1% every year. Before Yuma was successful they first had to overcome many challenges in the land, this changed Yuma geographically and caused for new technology needed that is now used around the United States in the present day. This advancement called for more jobs for thousands and slowly gained population in Yuma. The effects from irrigation are still benefiting Yuma and the people of Yuma today.

Irrigation has been a major part for Yuma,Arizona. Many things had occurred for getting a better irrigation in the Yuma County as well as in other parts; many things had happened like successfully and tragedies things. The major component that led to the irrigation was the Reclamation Act, which then later became known as the U.S Bureau of Reclamation. This then led to the Yuma Project. The Yuma Project was a project that was a benefit because it help to bring down the water to Arizona.

Irrigation is a successful project, the Yuma project helped field workers and help year round farming conditions like the dry soil/ dry land it gave people more jobs to provide for themselves and their families irrigation had a big impact on Arizona and people that needed jobs Yuma used the land for houses, cities, livestock and made fields for farming. It affects both the local area and state because the overall economic

The Colorado River is a very important water source for the Southwest and its people. But I think the river is most important for the farmers.

The Basin of the Colorado River has been experiencing a severe water shortage for the past 16 years constantly. This river used to be large and flowing, but now water levels have been decreasing, and as a person who lives in California I believe there needs to be something done. It begins with California. There are seven states that use this river, but California is over using it. The river’s main role is more of a boundary line to separate

Chapter one starts with the telling of the history of the Colorado River and its usage. It discusses the Colorado River Compact that was signed in 1944 that essentially divided the Colorado River’s water up into seven allotments for the seven states that the river flowed through. Upon further reading, it is discovered that when the engineers estimated the annual flow of the river, 1905 to 1922, had actually been a time of over average rainfall. This in turn doomed the lower states that shared the river to a much less flow rate that the upper states. This not only extremely limited the amount of water that the lower states received, it also reduced the amount of power that could be generated by dams along the river. Another interesting fact

“The completion of the Hoover Dam acted as a catalyst in transforming the Southwest United States into a modern society.” (Discovering U.S. History 2003). The irrigation canals from the dam turned Imperial Valley, California into one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world. Furthermore, the water supplied by the dam allowed the Los Angeles area to flourish during the spring of 1941 (Discovering U.S. History 2003). During this time World War Two had begun and without the power of this dam the war would have been extremely rigorous without the industrialization of cities. With Lake Mead being the largest water reservoir during this time helped sustain enough water for Las Vegas’s population boon. Not to mention the Hoover Dam protected the Western population by controlling a massive flood on June 6, 1983 (Discovering U.S. History 2003). While people obtain inexpensive necessities from the dam, the reservoir of Lake Mead is slowly transforming into a new salt lake. Contradictory to before, the Bureau of Reclamation in 1977 warned that the Hoover Dam would not meet the expectations of water supply needed for civilians in later generations without help. Lastly, after the opening of the

The Laguna Dam district uses water from the Colorado River to irrigate millions of their acres. The Colorado River is one of our main sources of water from where we get our water to irrigate from. If we decide to expand and use more of that water, it is going to cut down the supply of water that others use. When we expand, we take more land and also take more water acres to irrigate the more land we buy. That can lead to building more dams and channels which means more money used and less water for everyone else. Some of the dams may also fail which can cause the irrigation systems that we already had to get destroyed.