WSP07426

• File Number: 8276.854
• Description: Palo Verde Unit - Colorado Salinity River Control Program
• State: CA
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 3/1/1981
• Title: Palo Verde Irrigation District Unit Special Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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The valley floor is the former flood plain of the Colorado River and
is underlain by hundreds of feet of alluvium deposited by the river.

Soil in the Palo Verde Valley range in texture from fine sand to silty

clay and are excellent for crop production. Generally, the course-

textured soils are utilized for the production of vegetables and melons,

while the fine-textured soils are ideal for hay, cotton, whea~ and

certain other grain crops.

The coarse-textured soils occur adjacent to the Colorado River, and

the fine-textured soils are located nearer the mesa on the western

edge of the District.

Prior to completion of Hoover Dam in 1935 and subsequent regulation

of the Colorado River, lands within the Palo Verde Valley were frequently

flooded during the spring- months. This flooding created a high ground-
water table and bogs and sloughs developed. As water was utilized by

phyreatophytes, such as salt brush, arrow weed and tules, salt concen-
trations in the soil and ground water increased. Salts were carried

upward through capillary movement of water and deposited on the surface

and in upper levels of the soil profile as the water evaporated.

Irrigated agriculture is the primary economic sector in the District,
and a variety of field crops and vegetables are grown. Alfalfa,
cotton, and wheat are the major field crops, Major vegetable crops
are lettuce, onions, and melons. Multiple cropping, including live-
stock grazing following harvests, occurs on approximately 32 percent

of the irrigated land.

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