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~ ,. Grops having been grown in one reGent year, the top 10 Garry partiGular signifiGanre. In order of millions of dol- lars in value, they induded. cattle, alfalfa, carrots, let- tuce, sugar beets, wheat, Gantaloupes, Sudan grass, onions and asparagus. Imperial Valley enjoys a year-round Glimate GharaG- terized by a temperate fall, winter and spring and a harsh summer. Humidity often GOmbines with the valley's normal high tem- peratures to produGe a moist, tropiGal atmosphere that frequently seems hotter than the thermometer sug- gests. The sun shines, on the average, more in the Imperial Valley. that any~ where else in the United States. The 79-year-average rainfall is 2.92 inGhes. The history of this valley boasts one of the most tena- Gious young fighters in this GOuntry's modem-day leg- islative arena. Opposition to the Boulder Canyon ProjeGt bill Game from many sides. This legislation, among other things, authorized Hoover Dam and the All- AmeriGan Canal as well as . gave Arizona, California and Nevada the go ahead to enter into a eompact to divide use of the lower basin waters. Congressman Phil Swing, newly eleGted in 1920 from the Imperial Valley, introdured the bill, a daring and GOntroversial project, and it took him the next four Congresses of GOntinuous aGtivity to see it be signed into law, The seGOnd largest user for agriGultural purposes of California's share of the Colorado River is the Palo Verde Valley and Palo Verde Mesa. The irrigation distriGt that serves them oGGupies about 190 square miles of territory in Riverside and Imperial Gounties. That's some 121,000 aGres and dose to 110,000 of them are put to agriGultural use. The Colorado River, whiGh is the boundary between Arizona and California, forms the eastern and southern boundaries of. the Palo Verde Irrigation DistriGt. Like Imperial, the valley, with its long, hot growing season, is ideal for agriGulture. Crops are. grown and harvested year-. round, sometimes with the same aGre of land produGing two or more crops in one year. And the mild winters, with a minimum of frost, permit the growing of many GlOpS not suitable for pro- duction in other areas. PrinGipal Grops are alfalfa, cotton, citrus, cantaloupes, honeydews, wheat, lettuGe and onions. In recent years, the annual value of Grops produred within the area has ranged from $60 million to $158 million, exduding livestoGk. Some 25,000 to 35,000 head of sheep have been fed annually in the valley. Irrigating more than 78,000 aGres in a desert best known as a wintertime oasis Gomplete with swimming pools and golf GOurses for those able to afford to get away from subzero temper- atures is the user of the . . third largest amouni of California's share of the Colorado, CoaGhella Valley Water DistriGt. Also a. plOvider of urban water, , CoaGhella's serviGe area stretGhes over nearly 640,000 aGres. Some 265,000 aGre-feet of river water feed the Grops that Gontribute more than $367 million to the eGOnomy of the CoaGhella Valley. Before the water Game, this desert was no different that other deserts: hostile. The Goming of the railroad was GmGial in opening the desert to set- tlement. The disGOvery by the railroad of great under- ground water resources brought a tridde of farmers. Then more farmers dug more wells, punGhed them CRWUA deeper with hydrauliG rigs, put eleGtriGally-powered engines to work and Garried the flow of water to the fer- tile land. But it wasn't until water from the Colorado River made its way through a Ganal123 miles long that hopes and dreams were GOnverted into reality, opening nearly 40,000 aGres in less than two demdes. Water, machines, men and money first turned the desert green and today 100 perGent of CoaGhella's river supply goes to growing the crops that keep it thai way. Fruit produGtion leads the list by a wide margin, with table grapes GOntributing the highest amount to the economy, followed in. order by dates, grapefruit, oranges and tangerines, lemons and limes, and watermelon, As a group, vegetables hold a distant seGOnd spot produG- ing a GOnsiderable list of varieties. Nursery produGts, whiGh GaIT}' the highest value per aGre, Gontribute the third largest amount to the economy, followed by forage crops and misGel- laneous field Grops, Lesser value Grops indudeGereals and nuts. Little Gould early devel-' opers have GOnGeived that one day GOmputers would. be aiding farmers in apply- ing the exaGt amount of water neGessary to meet plant needs, or that instead 'of flooding the lands to irri- gate, many farmers would be delivering the plallt's . exaGt water needs through a hose about the diameter of a penGil, Next in entitlement to California Colorado River water is the Metropolitan Water DistriGt, primarily an urban provider. Less than 10 perGent of the water it delivers is used for agri- GUltural purposes, and those deliveries primarily are in Riverside and San Diego GOunties. Today, the desert areas in southeast California are the winter salad bowl for the nation, Ag produGtion ranks in its top ten produdng areas. In addition, these ag districts are working with other California users of Colorado River water to . GOnserve where possible and to stretGh the state's limited. supply. COLORADO Colorado has been the home of irrigated fanuing sinGe .the late 1850s when disGOuraged miners applied their piGks and shovels to bottom lands to grow food. By 1890, half the Gultivated fannland in the state re""ived irrigation from one sourre or another. Today, as it is in.most west- ern states, the vast majority of the water GOnsumed in the state goes to agriGulture ~ in this Gase nearly 90 perrent. And this is the same state about whidl General Zebulon .Pike onGe wrote that when Grossing its plains he saw many miles "where not a speGk of vegetable matter existed," adding that in time these plains might beGome "as Gelebrated as the sandy deserts of AfriGa." There are more than a million aGres of agriGultural . lands in. the ColoradO River Basin in the state of Colorado. Thenl ~reim"th~r .' 900,000 aGres-plus outside the basin that Gould be irri- gated with transbasin diver- sions. Thus the Colorado River Gould help irrigate nearly two-thirds of the. entire state's irrigated lands. Major crops in Colorado are GOm, hay, wheat, vegeta- bles and fruit. And in one reGent year, these and other crops Gontributed $1.1 billion to the state's eGOnomy. :/ NEVADA Though, in terms of rainfall, this is the driest state in the nation... though it was the home of Frands G. N ewlands, author of the National Redamation AGt .._c__,~ , . , .n.",,:,-~