Irrigation changed Yuma by vastly helping Yuma’s economy,help with hunger in Yuma and even help war veterans.It boosted economy by harnessing the colorado river which was diverted to Yuma to be turned into irrigation water,which combined with Yuma’s great soil;allowed Yuma to be a great factor in southern agriculture.Laguna dam further increased the importance of agriculture in Yuma,because it greatly increased the amount of acres of which can be irrigable.Irrigation also made Yuma have less of a hunger issue because of the amount of crops and farmland,so people can grow crops such as:lettuce,lemons,dates,and even oranges.Irrigation even helped war veterans stationed in Yuma and lots of supplies and water were given to the veterans in the …show more content…
What paid for the dam? In 1902 the federal government issued the Reclamation act to help irritation projects such as the Laguna Dam.However they didn't organize it,the Yuma County Water Users Association proposed something called the “Yuma Project" which organized the Laguna Dam,Yuma Main Canal,a distribution system,a levee and even a power plant!
However even all things have downside,for example the Laguna Dam was the first dam on the Colorado River so it marked the end of the steamboat era, but without the dam Yuma would have never been an agricultural
On September 10, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt help transferred a $20 million from Emergency Relief Act funds to the department of interior for construction of Friant Dam. The following year coming, he signed the act. Projected cost of the Friant Dam and Reservoir came in at $14 million, the Friant-Kern Canal came in at $26 million, and the Madera Canal was $3 million. The dam was built by the United State Bureau of Reclamation and the Faint dam was completed in 1942.
In December 1936 the United States Department of the Interior authorized the Lower Colorado River Authority to construct a low dam at the site of an old crossing on the river known as Marshall Ford. Marshall Ford Dam was completed in 1941 through the collaboration of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) of Texas. The original purpose of the dam was to prevent floods from devastating Austin, TX. The capital city had substandard heavy damage from previous floods since its establishment in 1846. Soon bureaucrats came together to create the Colorado River Project, wanting to create a series of dams along the Colorado River to create hydroelectric power and serve to control floods and droughts. With Buchanan dam well under way with a total of six planned Marshall Ford was the only dam designed primarily for flood control and the only dam in which USBR oversaw construction. With money scarce there was debate over the final height dam and it reservoir capacity. This issue resolves itself with the flood of 1938. Once completed Marshall Ford Dam would flood 65 miles of the Colorado to form Lake Travis, creating the largest of the seven reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes.
The one feature common to the Hoover Dam, The Mississippi river and the three gorges dam is that they all tried to control nature’s swings, specifically in the form of flooding. Before the Hoover dam was built, the Colorado river “used to flood spectacularly…but after 1900 the Colorado provoked a vehement response” (Pg 177). The response was simple, but large. The U.S. built several large dams, including the Hoover dam, on the Colorado to decrease its flooding and increase power and irrigation. Unfortunately, just as human control of the Colorado’s flooding increased, its organisms and habitats were detrimentally influenced, and the water became more and more salinated.
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
Congress to delete Echo Park Dam from the Colorado River Project in 1955. Other projects
Long ago, the middle of the North American continent was a treeless prairie covered by tall grasses and roaming buffalo. When European settlers came, they called this area the Great American Desert. Today, this "desert" is covered with fields of wheat, corn, and alfalfa made possible by center-pivot irrigation. My grandfather used to sell center-pivot systems and when my family drove to my grandparent's home in Nebraska, we would count how many "sprinklers" were watering each section of land. At the time, I didn't know that this water was being pumped from somethng called the Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground water supply. Throughout the years, this aquifer has made the Great American Desert one of the best farming areas in the world. Unfortunately, the Ogallala Aquifer's future as a valuable resource is in jeopardy, unless citizens of the Plains states reduce their water consumption.
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
As the empire expanded, there was a need for more farmland, but there was not always a water source available. The Incas grew corn, cotton and squash. Garciasco de la Vega, speaking about the farming in the Incan Empire, said, “The engineers showed great cleverness and skill in supplying water for the crops since only scattered sections of the land could grow corn” (Document 4). Their success with irrigation helped them expand their empire. Without it, it would be more difficult for them to subsist in a growing empire.
In the 1898 mayoral election, Frederick Eaton was elected as mayor of Los Angeles; and appointed his associate, William Mulholland- the superintendent of the newly created Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Eaton and Mulholland envisioned a region of Los Angeles that would make Los Angeles become the turn of the century. The limiting factor of that regions growth was water supply. Eaton and Mulholland realized that the Owens Valley had a large amount of runoff from the Sierra Nevada, and a gravity-fed aqueduct that could deliver the Owens water to Los Angeles. During the early 1900’s the United States Bureau of Reclamation made plans to build an irrigation system to help the farmers of the Owens Valley. By 1905, through purchases, and alleged intimidation and bribery, Los Angeles purchased enough water rights to enable construction of the aqueduct.
The Hoover Dam is a modern marvel and a testament to American ingenuity. At over six million six hundred thousand tons and jetting seven hundred sixty feet from the canyon floor, six hundred sixty feet across the bottom and, one thousand two hundred forty four feet across the top, the structure is awe inspiring even to a modern audience. Three quarters of a century since its completion it still stands as a symbol of one of the greatest construction projects of the ages. The need for a dam to block the Colorado River was not a new idea when construction began in 1931, but had been mulled around since the dawn of the century. Flooding due to runoff from the Rocky Mountains had devastated crops, and a need for hydroelectric power increased the need for a dam. In 1922 Black Valley was chosen as the spot for the dam’s construction. No one construction company was large enough to take on the project alone, so a group of companies formed a joint venture in order to bid the job. The Six Companies Inc. made up of Morrison-Knudson, the J.F. Shea Company of Portland, MacDonald & Kahn Ltd, Pacific Bridge Company of Portland, Henry J. Kaiser, Bechtel Company of San Francisco were awarded the winning bid for the dam at forty eight million eight hundred ninety thousand nine hundred fifty five dollars. The construction management team had a Herculean task in building this behemoth and faced many problems in its construction. A few of the major issues posed to the team were diverting the Colorado River, provisioning the men and material to get the job done, and the actual construction of the Hoover Dam. The heights involved with project led to many safety obstacles that had to be overcame.
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
1902 The Bureau of Reclamation is established to construct dams and aqueducts in the west.
The thirties was a time of anxiety -- after the major stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression was sparked. The economy is in the dumps, crime rate increased, mass migrations occurred, and much more. This despair inducing time caused a majority of the American people to be poor, or if they were rich before the incident, they would at least have a much less amount of money than they had before. Many people were looking for jobs, but the country did not have any jobs to offer them. Then soon enough, the president at the time, Herbert Hoover, issued the creation of the Hoover Dam, which had opened up a large amount of jobs for the people. Sure, the job was extremely dangerous -- hundreds died in the creation of the large dam -- but the people needed money. They would’ve done almost anything in the economic grave that they dug themselves in at this point. They originally hired mostly Chinese immigrants to build the dam, but soon enough, more people in need of money were up for the job. They also started using concrete for the Hoover Dam, which has stuck until today’s time, in which most buildings are made up of concrete. Concrete is so relied on today due to its toughness and durability. The Hoover Dam popularized the use of concrete in building.
Click and drag to move The dam would take nearly five years to complete and cost in excess of $49 million to construct. The good news was thousands of jobs had been created during the Great Depression. The bad news was those jobs were only located near the Colorado River in the area around Arizona and Nevada. While the dam, now called "Hoover Dam" today, was considered a huge success, it did little to spark the economic downturn facing the entire nation.
Now the struggle for the Arkansas begins. Plans to dam the river below the Royal Gorge are pending. Devastating. I can't imagine the powerful currents of the Arkansas trapped behind an enormous wall of concrete. I find it hard to justify the damming of the Arkansas. It defines recreation for central Colorado.