The Yima Project Case Study

Easy navigation and flood control encouraged trade along the river, which boosted the economy and led to an increase in jobs for traders, deckhands, etc. (US History TVA). In addition to providing increased trade opportunities, large amounts of money that would have been spent on the flood damage that were saved by the construction of these dams. A few years into the program, stations were created in the area to monitor flooding. Reports from these stations, in addition to computer calculations, show that the total cost of the flood damage up until 2007 would have been $5.8 billion (TVA River Neighbors). The flooding would have destroyed not only people’s homes, but also their businesses and livelihoods., which would have led to further unemployment.

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 upper basin states (including Colorado) were allocated a much greater percentage of the water than the lower basin states, while the upper basin states were developing at a much slower rate than those in the lower basin, notably California. Nevada (as of 1997) anticipated being unable to rely just on this water by 2015, while in 1997 California was already exceeding its originally allocated supply by diverting unused water from the upper basin states (Arizona.edu, 1997). It goes without saying that this legislation from the early twentieth century is not going to be sufficient in coming years as the development of these regions has progressed at a much faster rate than originally anticipated, and it is the responsibility of state and federal governments, water management companies, as well as appeals from farmers and non-farming residents alike to come to an agreement on how to apportion water and how to implement secondary hydration plans due to the rapidly declining resource that the once-magnificent Colorado River was able to supply us

One positive effect of the Transcontinental Railroad is, it helped expansion into the west. For example, the Transcontinental Railroad found important information about the west. As seen in document 1, the Great Plains was viewed as useless and barren even 50 years after Lewis and Clark’s exploration. If the Transcontinental Railroad wasn’t built, the US wouldn’t have the benefits of the great plains until much later. Benefits such as space for crops, cattle and trading the unmanufactured crops and cattle to the east for manufactured goods through the railroad. According to the advertisement in document 5, there were millions of acres at a cheap price that were increasing in value. Before the railroad, the land was also cheap, but it required going on a long, time-consuming and treacherous trail by wagon. Travelers would have to go through weather and terrain like bodies of water, around mountains and up hills. The railroad takes less time and has fewer dangers, which increases the number of people willing to buy land and settle in the west.

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

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

That the time that the Dam was being constructed, the economic impacts were incredible. Not only from the instantaneous creation of laborers

Construction of the Transcontinental Railroad not only affected the United States itself but also anything that inhabited the lands that it was constructed on. As a necessary to build the railroad they had to go through mountains, Native American land, animals homes, etc. Native Americans being inhabitants of the land did not welcome the white settlers which resulted in violent conflict. When it came to building the railroad two companies were assigned the task, pinning them up against each other to lay the most track for more money. The Central Pacific company which started in California had to go through mountains while the Union Pacific which started in Nebraska only had to go through the Great Plains. For Central Pacific workers there was horrible working conditions, discrimination, and the chance dying for every mile laid.

Beside these arguments, there is also a more quantitative side to the debate. The ecological detriments of the Glen Canyon Dam have been well-documented. Extensive changes were brought about in the Colorado River ecosystem by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Most of these alterations negatively affected the functioning of the system and the native aquatic species of the river. The reduced supply and transport of

The Transcontinental Railroad was spread through many of the unsettled territories. This resulted in protests by the native populations who lived there (Doc H). This led to other events, such as the Treaty of Ft. Laramie, and built off of previous events such as the Trail of Tears. This had a social impact because it reinforced negative opinions against American Indians and condoned further actions against

Transportation was one challenge the railroad fixed. People could now travel and discover the frontier faster. Trade was also increased once the tracks were finished. Many could now take their items to new areas to make trades. Another nuisance that the transcontinental railroad corrected was the communication gap. Settlers were often isolated, so when the railroad was completed other settlers would meet up to chat and help one another out. The last major impact the completion of the transcontinental railroad created was the opportunity for new jobs. Silver mining in Comstock Lode, Nevada and gold mining in the Black Hills created many jobs for settlers. Railroad companies may have helped the United States, but they would capitalize off of the government. These companies did so through the Pacific Railway Acts. The Pacific Railway Acts provided loans and land grants to railroad companies in order to help the companies raise money for the construction of new railroads. In return the government would get discounted rates to send troops and mail. By the end of these acts, “Congress and granted over 131 million acres of land to railroad companies.” (Holt McDougal, 590). The transcontinental railroad had improved many things, but that’s not all this railroad

Farmers had canals but unfortunately many of them would always flood. Floods consistent farming of the land. “They were always out there with dredges, trying to the slit out of the canals, but they couldn't keep up”. Said Carol Brooks, curator of the Arizona Historical Society-Yuma. Canals diggers tried to bring water to Yuma but they were not successful, so the Reclamation Act established the U.S Bureau Reclamation Services,which was later renamed as the U.S Bureau of Reclamation. The construction of the project began in 1903, one of the positive effect on this was that it brought water to Yuma for irrigation and stopped canals from flooding. Therefore irrigates did not have to worried about the canals been flooded. This project was really a benefit for them, it took away the stress about canals been flooded. The irrigators finally could work in peace with no worries since canals would not flood and they did not have to worry about the crops been ruin because of the floods going on. The purpose of building these project was to irrigate over thousands of acres land. These project was built in the Fort Yuma Military Reservation. The United State invested 66 million dollars in the Yuma

Irrigation changed Yuma and Southern Arizona because all lot of the stuff that has happened in the past. People were learning how to make Yuma and Southern Arizona better. They start making ideas for

(Hasan and Özay 2002, 73-74). As Albiac (2008) reports, development of pipe network distribution and drip irrigation methods in other countries led the farmers to have remarkable irrigation efficiency in drought (143). Such technologies have already been used in China, but they are not widely spread in China’s agriculture. One investigation in China on rice paddy irrigation systems development was performed and it revealed that using the fry-foot paddy irrigation (when no water flooded the field) instead of flooding irrigation (when the rice field is completely flooded) significantly (40-60%) reduces water consumption (Xiaoping, Qiangsheng and Bin 2004, 351). Furthermore, drip irrigation method was applied in arid Northern China and it raised the water usage efficiency (Du et al 2007). However, introduction of new irrigation technologies faced some difficulties in China. As Hodstedt (2010) noticed in his article, the water saved by these technologies such as drip irrigation systems was simply spent on more food production and, therefore, did not reduce the water shortage. Also, as he reported, this caused two other environmental problems. Firstly, the water, which was the supply for underground water and aquifers as it was lost by deep percolation and leakage, became unavailable after the water-saving technologies were introduced and this strengthened the aquifers depleting along with its overpumping. Secondly, after

According to our record, DO has sent appeal letter to Mr Yim and invited him to our annual dinner in 2012, Mr Yim’s secretary called us and requested more information for naming options, however no positive feedback was received. It is proposed that CUC Chairman host a lunch for Mr Yim in order to explore the ways of support with naming arrangement he may wish to have.