OCR Text |
Show some method, such as revetment, to stop bank erosion and preserve the alignment of the river at this point. This situation calls for immediate action, while the conference considers the proper raising and strengthening of the Volcano Lake embankment to be "an essential requisite as a protection of Imperial Valley against menace from the south, and should be constructed without delay." (Ibid., p. 160, cap. 4, b.) (Italics ours.) Connected with the permanent control of the Colorado River are international questions which must be settled by an international board, as is pointed out by the conference. In view of the length of time which will probably elapse before these questions can be determined, it is manifestly inadvisable to defer for consideration, by such possible commission, the work above outlined, which all agree should be done immediately. When the overflow occurs, as is certain to happen if steps to prevent are not taken-when it does come the Colorado will again send its waters into the Salton Sea. Owing to the great fall which the water will have and the peculiar character of the soil, the checking of the river will prove a most serious undertaking and would be accomplished only by the expenditure of millions, if at all. The floods of 1905-1907 are estimated to have cost between $5,000,000 and $7,000,000 in money expended to control the river and for the damage wrought. When this task was accomplished, in 1907, nine out of ten engineers are reported to have pronounced the undertaking impossible. If not checked, the river will fill the Salton Sink, compelling the abandonment of the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. Within this region there are now 30,000 inhabitants and property valued at $40,000,000 to $50,000,000. |
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. |