Laserfiche WebLink
<br />SignOnS;mOiego.com> News> Special Reports -- VaHcy's ciders recall how water made valley bloom <br /> <br />Slgtl,2.'l~~~.~~.com J <br /> <br />Page I of2 <br /> <br />SOG- <br />_E <br />.~""'''1~41'''''~'.~,,,, <br /> <br />Home~' News I Today'. Poper I Sports 4~ danified. ~tiiShopping -I. SeMen' k- Entertainment ~~Visitor Info '.,l-"I..~-l!.~ <br /> <br />Adycrll~lng Info About Uli Contac;;t Uli Fee4bac;;k Site [ndCI( Pnvac;;y Policy <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />News <br /> <br />War on Terror <br />Metro <br />North County <br />California <br />Nclllon <br />Mexico <br />World <br />Business <br />BIotechnology <br />Technology <br />Sch~nce <br />Pohtic.. <br />Militilry <br />EduuUon <br />Travel <br />Solulions <br />Special Reports <br />Features <br />ObltuclriCS <br />Weather <br />Forums <br />Opinion <br />Columnists <br />U-T Oaily Papcl <br />U-T [mall Edition <br />Archives <br /> <br />Valley's elders recall how water made <br />valley bloom <br /> <br />By Michael Gardner <br />COPLEY NEWS SERVICE <br /> <br />EL CENTRO - Virgil Corfman <br />remembers ordering irrigation <br />water by placing a scribbled note <br />inside a cigar box set out on the <br />counlry lane. The next morning <br />a z8njero. or ditch tender, would <br />lift planks to release flows to <br />fields. <br /> <br /> <br />Today, '....ater in the <br />agriculturillJr rich Imperial <br />Valley is managed from a <br />command center stocked with <br />computers that remotely control <br />deli\"eril's dmn! to the gallon. <br /> <br />PEGGY PEATTIE I Un!on'Tnbune <br />JOhn MenvlelJe, 95. one 01 the valley's oldest <br />farmel'!;. says the water transfer lO San <br />Du~oo may be it blank check. "They're gomO <br />to be wantlnO more wllter and mote water <br />....ndmore...ilter:hesays <br /> <br />What hasn't changed in the Imperial Valley is the reliance on imported <br />woter and the zealousness in which locals guard it. <br /> <br />"If you didn't have it, it would be a desert again ovcrnight," snys <br />Corfman. now 96. <br /> <br />Water transformed miles of desert <br />sCnlb into lush rows of \'cgetablcs. In <br />doing so, it delivered fresh produce to <br />the nation's dinner tabk's nearly <br />year~round. <br /> <br />Water <br />Pressure <br /> <br />"We can grow uhnost an)1hing here," <br />Corfm..m boasts. <br /> <br />But it wasn't always so, add longtime <br />friends Corfman and John l\tel1vielle, <br />who have tended dairy cows and <br />crops here through the Great <br />Depression, two World Wars and the <br />first 11100n landing, <br /> <br />'--'" <br />,~ <br /> <br />. Imperlal's decision <br />. F_arrn worketsJear_water <br />sale could cost jobs <br />. A prominent familv is.torn <br />bv the battle over water <br /> <br />They plowed with horses, not with <br />horsepower. Families hung wet <br />slu:ds in the breeze to cool homes. <br /> <br />hllp ://WW\V .sigllonsandiego.comlllc,,,'slrcports/watcr/20021208-9999-clders.htm I <br /> <br />Do Your <br />.., <br />'.. <br />, <br />Feet Hurt <br /> <br />~ <br />_u..UfO" ..tH'n<..a,._ <br /> <br />Yellow Pages <br /> <br />Bars & Clubs <br />Business Services <br />Computers <br />EducatIOn <br />Health & Beauty <br />Home & Garden <br />Hotels <br />Restaurants <br />ShopplnQ <br />Travel <br /> <br />Search by <br />Company Name: <br />I ~ <br /> <br />Local Guides <br /> <br />c.~ <br />Coupons <br />ElderCllre <br />FInancial Guide <br />Health <br />Homes <br />Jobs <br />Legal Guide <br />Shopplno <br /> <br />12/10/02 <br />