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<br />PARr II. <br /> <br />HISi'ORI OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />A. General <br /> <br /> <br />There are nine principal irrigation areas in the Colorado River <br /> <br /> <br />basin below Hoover Dam which receive water from, and return water to, <br /> <br /> <br />the Colorado River. 1'hese are the Valley and Reservation Divisions <br /> <br /> <br />of the Yuma Project (the Reservation Division being located in <br /> <br /> <br />California), the North Gila Valley unit, Yuma Mesa, South Gila <br /> <br /> <br />Valley unit, and the Wellton-Mohawlt Division of the Gila Project, <br /> <br /> <br />the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Colorado River Indian <br /> <br /> <br />Reservation, and the irrigation areas in Mexico adjacent to the <br /> <br /> <br />border (see frontispiece). The discussion below is confined to <br /> <br /> <br />these areas and does not cover other areas such as the Metropolitan <br /> <br /> <br />Water District, the Coachella Valley County Water District, and the <br /> <br /> <br />Imperial Irrigation District, which do not return drainage water to <br /> <br /> <br />the Colorado River. <br /> <br /> <br />B. Yuma Project <br /> <br /> <br />The first irrigation in the Yuma area began in Yuma Valley <br /> <br /> <br />about 1897, and by 1902 f'our private canal systems were in operation. <br /> <br /> <br />The YlDD8 Project, as authorized by the Secretary of the Interior on <br /> <br /> <br />May 10, 1904, included the North and South Gila ValJ.eys, an area <br /> <br /> <br />on the Yuma Mesa, and the present Reservation and Valley Divisions. <br /> <br /> <br />Ten miles northeast fran Yuma, a diversion structure, Laguna <br /> <br /> <br />Dam, ws completed in 19l1. By this time the project plan had been <br /> <br /> <br />revised to exclude the South Gila Valley and Yuma Mesa lands !rom <br /> <br /> <br />the project. In 1917, f'ollowing the f'ormation of the North Gila <br /> <br />'J. <br /> <br />7 <br />