Laserfiche WebLink
<br />N <br />~ <br />00 <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />,- <br />.... <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />r <br />A, .... <br /> <br /> <br />,.J <br /> <br />r <br /> ~ <br />I " <br /> ~~'" <br /> ~ ~ <br />j - <br /> <br />Trammissiol1 lines CW!)' IIOOl'ef Dam power across <br />the Nt'HllIa desert 10 .\"oulhl'nI Calijbmia. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Basin combine to produce, even in <br />winter, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower I <br />tomatoes, onions, sweet com, asparagus, <br />green peas, and other vegetables. Can- <br />taloupes, watermelons, citrus fruits, <br />grapes, dates, and pecans are also pro- <br />duced. Alfalfa hay and seed, cotton, <br />small grains, sorghums, and sugar beets <br />are grown in some sections of the <br />region. A flourishing seed industry ex- <br />ists. Winter pasturing of cattle and <br />sheep, beef cattle fed on locally grown <br />feeds, and poultry and milk production <br />arc also part of the Southwest's <br />agriculture. <br />In southern California's Imperial <br />VaHey there are more than 500,000 <br />acres of irrigable land; about 460,000 of <br />these acres have been famlcd by irrigation <br />in recent years. In 1934, when the <br />Colorado River flow was only slightly <br />over 4 million acre-feet, a crop value of <br />$10 million was lost, and the existence of <br />entire communities was jeopardized. A <br />decade later, with Hoover Dam regulating <br />the Colorado River and the All-American <br />Canal delivering irrigation water, the area <br />produced crops va!ued at nearly $70 <br />million. In 1981, crops valued at nearly <br />$377 million were produced in the Im- <br />peria! Valley. <br />The Coachella Canal carries water <br />northwestv.;ard from the All-American <br />Canal into the rich Coachella Valley in <br />California, whe:-e some 75,500 acres <br />may eventually be irrigated by Colorado <br />River water. Before the l23-mile-Iong <br />Coachella was completed, about 20,000 <br />acres of valley land were irrigated by <br />pumping underground water. This <br />dangerously lowered the water table, <br />threatening the irrigated lands with water <br />shortages. Now, water deliveries assure <br />farn1ers on these fertile lands of an ade- <br />quate supply for full crop production. In <br />198!, crops valned at more than $145 <br />million were produced on 58,203 acres of <br />irrigated farmland in the Coachella <br />Valley. The cumulative value of crops <br />produced in the Imperial and Coachella <br />Valleys from Colorado River water since <br />1943 totals more than $8 billion. <br /> <br />1 <br />I <br /> <br />31 <br />