Irrigation In Yuma Essay

Arizona farmers are resistant to drip irrigation and prefer flood or rainwater-propelled irrigation, which is used on about 95 percent of Arizona crops. “Farmers have a hard time justifying drip irrigation because water is relatively cheap and drip systems can cost from $500 to $2,000 per acre to install” (U.S. Water News Online). Unfortunately cost is a prohibition not only for farmers but for private residents as well. Many residents have migrated to Arizona due to the region's affordable prices. One of the major problems our towns are facing is the conversion of homes to a more environmentally sound energy models that currently are extremely expensive.

The State of Colorado has suffered from a water shortage in recent years; a difficult situation which is easily visible when viewing the quickly shortening length of the Colorado River. Lake Mead, for example, is roughly 130 feet lower than it once was, marked by the stained rock which towers above the current water level. “The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears. In fact, the Colorado no longer regularly reaches the sea” (Zielinski, 2010). Legislation was implemented early on to address this issue, though the results were (perhaps not surprisingly) rather unanticipated, regarding

Along this journey created by nature, the river interacts with man’s influence to encapsulate the full geographic experience of this region. The succession of dams along the river’s path is a major contribution to how man has decided to mesh with the river. The dams have created reservoirs for water supplies, harnessed energy to provide electric power to the southwestern region, and controlled flooding. Flood control was the main concern at the time between the years 1905 and 1907 when large floods broke through the irrigation gates and destroyed crops in California. The flooding was so large it actually created a 450 square mile sea, named the Salton Sea. As a result of this major disaster, ideas were formulated to

Warmer temperatures in Arizona in river has been leading to more evaporation. The water that is being used by plants and soil experience evapotranspiration which has accounted for a loss of at least half-million acre-feet of water annually.

The Colorado River Basin starts in the Rocky Mountains and cuts through 1500 miles of canyon lands and deserts of seven US states and two Mexican states to supply a collection of dams and reservoirs with water to help irrigate cropland, support 40 million people, and provide hydroelectric power for the inland western United States [1,2]. From early settlement, rights over the river have been debated and reassigned to different states in the upper and lower basin; however, all the distribution patterns lead to excessive consumption of the resource. In 1922, the seven US states signed into the Colorado River Compact, which outlined the policy for the distribution rights to the water [3], however, this compact was written during an exceptionally

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

Drought condition exists throughout most of Arizona. Variable amounts of rainfall throughout last year’s where was significantly below the normal with surface water flows, reservoir levels, and well water pumping levels are at some of their lowest ever recorded all of that act as indication of drought occurrence. Drought is a normal recurring feature of climate, not a rare or random event. Climate influence water quality throughout temperature, precipitation, and wind by affecting the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water. For instance, temperature fluctuation results in more stress on aquatic organism within water body, in the same way wind fluctuation has a direct effect on evaporation rate. Municipal water providers in Flagstaff, Williams, Mayer, Pine, Strawberry, and in areas near Sierra Vista, Sonoita, and Picacho have suffered from some potable

The controversy over water rights has been a long battle that the Navajo Nation has endured for decades. This controversy which is complicated by numerous issues has only been increasing in recent years. For example the Navajo Hopi Little Colorado Water Settlement that has been in litigation for 33 years. Of particular note Navajo people and their elected officials are struggling to balance expectations with reality including legally mandated coordination with state and federal governments. As a result there has been notable conflict in resources associated with water management. These fundamental issues have been exasperated by a host of concerns: (1) deceased water availability due to drought or water development; (2) long

When thinking of a desert, one would think of a large, dry, and sandy area like the Sahara Desert. The Great Basin Desert is different because it is a cold desert. A cold desert is completely different from the typical desert with average temperatures of 55-57 degrees Fahrenheit in summer, and in winter it averages around 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold deserts will normally have much more water. Water is the lifeline of The Great Basin Desert (Pellant), which is a good thing and a bad thing. The term “basin” is used with the meaning no water from the ocean ever reaches this region (National Park Service). Water rights to the Great Basin Desert have been a problem for a long time and with the risk of water loss and risk of losing groundwater.

One of the challenges developers faced while building these canals was flooding. In 1916 a major flood hit Yuma destroying buildings and homes and more reconstruction needed to be done. To make this water source lasts developers had to change these canals. By adding siphons along the canals and rivers making the water flowing and stable. Now with the water at a steady flow more Wheat, Cotton, Broccoli and Lettuce can be grown for the seasons. The Colorado River flows progressively, Indians in the desert are relying on Yuma on the

One of the many things that irrigation changed Yuma was by it expanded Yuma’s population by 80%. Yuma used to be a very unpopulated area. Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas have the biggest basin.” One of the biggest reasons on how Yuma got very populated was because of the project called Yuma Project. For this project to get authorized President Theodore Roosevelt turned the abandoned Fort Yuma Military Reservation, in Arizona, over to the newly formed Reclamation Service for the development of irrigation projects.”

There are many different ways irrigation has changed Yuma and the rest of Southern Arizona very drastically. Irrigation has existed in Southern Arizona and Yuma County since the 1800’s. Irrigation has been practiced in the Algodones Grant with a view to determine if gravity canals would be effective for irrigation. 50,000 to 60,000 acres are extremely fertile and are very capable of producing crops when there is a sufficient amount of water given for irrigation to take place. “Water is too valuable to use on farms” was a myth in the 1900’s about irrigation but there is 80% of the Colorado River water the is used in agriculture. Agriculture business in Yuma county has changed

While most historians focus on what the projects were able to produce and how beneficial it was for the people of Yuma, a few of the detrimental and unprofitable aspects are worth noting. Though these minor occurrences do not outweigh what the Yuma Project was able to accomplish and bring to the state of Arizona and America as a whole, they should not be unsaid. When canals, dams, and other means of controlling water were constructed, it interfered with the natural way the water rises on occasion. A problem that was faced was the flooding of the rivers which was harmful to crops and unliked by farmers. This issue led to levees and dikes being built but farm work would not have been done until it was completely finished . This could have hurt their business and slowed production of goods which meant the decrease of certain crops for the people of Yuma to purchase and use. Droughts are common in Yuma and shortages have been prevalent. A level 1 shortage was predicted to be at a 21% chance of happening in 2016 and up to 51% in 2017. Precautions have been taken to combat these possibilities but the effects would be devastating if they were to

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

Prior to settlement of the western United States, the Colorado River roamed free. Starting from cool mountain streams, the river eventually became a thunderous, silty force of nature as it entered the canyons along its path. The river nourished wetlands and other riparian habitats from the headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to the delta at the Sea of Cortez in Northwest Mexico. Settlers along the river harnessed these waters mainly for agriculture via irrigation canals, but flooding from spring runoff wreaked havoc on agricultural land, prevented development in the floodplain and full utilization of the water, a waste in the eyes of western farmers. In order to meet current and future water demands in the west, the Federal Government