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Last modified
5/14/2010 8:58:17 AM
Creation date
9/30/2006 10:18:55 PM
Metadata
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Publications
Year
1995
Title
Califormia Water
CWCB Section
Interstate & Federal
Author
Arthur L. Littlewort
Description
History, overview, and explanation of water rights and legislation of California
Publications - Doc Type
Historical
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<br /> <br />The All-American Canal supplies Colorado <br />Riller water for agriculture in the Imperial <br />and Coachella Valleys. <br /> <br />BCPA = Boulder Canyon Project Act <br /> <br />16 CALIFORNIA WATER <br /> <br />possible the delivery of water to the Imperial Valley in 1901. However, <br />the company soon encountered its own difficulties. In 1905, the <br />Mexican Government made two dredger cuts in the banks of the <br />Colorado River below the international boundary, but control gates <br />were not installed at the cuts. In that winter, the Colorado River <br />reached flood stage and breached the lower cut, the uncontrolled flow <br />reaching the Salton Sea. It took three years to close the break and <br />confine the Colorado River to its channel. Judgments for damages re- <br />sulting from the flow of Colorado River water through the dredger cut <br />forced the company into receivership from 1909 until 1916, during <br />which time major development of the Imperial Valley occurred. <br />In 1911, the Imperial Irrigation District was organized and, five <br />years later, purchased the California Development Company prop- <br />erties from the Southern Pacific Company for $3 million. The earlier <br />canal breach spurred an attempt to build a canal wholly in the <br />United States, which led to the construction of the "All-American <br />Canal" as part of the Boulder Canyon Project Act (BCPA). The BCPA <br />is discussed in greater detail in chapter 10. <br />Development in the Coachella Valley has occurred primarily in <br />the 20th century. Agriculture first began around 1894, when the <br />Southern Pacific Company drilled a well in Mecca and developed a <br />supply of high-quality artesian water, but increased dramatically after <br />1900 when improved methods of drilling became economical. By 1907, <br />more than 400 wells existed between Indio and the Salton Sea, and, <br />incredible as it may seem today, 300 of them were artesian. In 1918, <br />the Coachella Valley County Water District was organized, primarily <br />to protect the existing water supply in the area and, because agricul- <br />ture in the area was being limited by an insufficient water supply, to <br />obtain water from the Colorado River. In 1934, Coachella Valley en- <br />tered into a contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation to <br />construct facilities to import Colorado River water to the Coachella <br />Valley. This resulted in the construction of the Coachella branch of the <br />All-American Canal, which carries Colorado River water along the <br />east side of the Coachella Valley, crosses the valley just north of the <br />City of Indio, and then turns south along the west side of the valley.23 <br /> <br />The Central Valley Project <br />The evolution of water use in California is again evident in the <br />history of water development in the vast Central Valley, the rich agri- <br />cultural area supplied by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. <br /> <br />23 Bulletin No.2. pages 185, 205-207. <br />
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