OCR Text |
Show -33- lands in the bottom, comprising the tract known as the Sink, extend from an elevation of 250 feet below sea-level to an elevation of 280 feet below, and aggregate 190,000 acres. The acreage in the extreme bottom, or lying at the 280 ft. level, is approximately 100,000. The yearly evaporation in this section has never been fully determined. Experiments elsewhere, where the conditions are similar, leads to the belief that it will approximate 100 inches. Let us assume it to be 96 inches, or 8 feet. The entire inflow of the canal, for a period of ten months, would cover this area 12 feet in depth were it not for the evaporation, which being 8 feet, would leave 4 feet of water at the end of the year. As the elevation of the water surface rises however, the evaporation area increases rapidly. A depth of 30 feet of water would have a surface covering 190,000 acres. The evaporation from an area of 150,000 acres would equal the entire inflow of the canal, and inasmuch as only a small portion of the canal water will find its our way into the sink, it is evident that an evaporation surface is ample for all possible needs. I think it would be very beneficial to the country if it were possible to maintain a depth of 15 or 20 feet of water in the sink, as the evaporation would have a tendency to cool the atmosphere. |
Source |
Original book: [State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, California, City of San Diego, California, and County of San Diego, California, defendants, United States of America, State of Nevada, State of New Mexico, State of Utah, interveners] : California exhibits. |