John Demcko
P3
Strom
Rags to Riches in the Desert: How Yuma County became Agriculturally Superior
Ever since the dawn of mankind and the Agricultural Revolution, irrigation has been used to his greatest advantage to grow crops on fertile soil in just almost anywhere from the desert oasis of the Nile River in Egypt to China’s lush Yellow River Valley. The exponential success of the Yuma Valley Irrigation Project is one of these stunning examples of this technological feat that is as old as mankind itself. However, this was not possible without utmost support from the U.S. Government, the superb diligence and persistence of its engineers and the peoples of Yuma County, and the consideration of the benefits and shortfalls in the past and present.
(Question 1) How did geography impact the development of irrigation in Yuma County?
Yuma’s Irrigation Project was not something that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation started simply alone. Before the Bureau’s trials and errors into success, there were numerous unsuccessful attempts at setting up irrigation in Yuma by private companies. The region’s arid geography and the mighty power of the Colorado River were the two prime sources of blame that thwarted the ambitions of those early farmers to use the silt-rich soils of the Yuma Valley. Mr. Don Diego Iaeger was of those whose plans fell …show more content…
The construction of levees, dams, and canals/ditches were pretty costly especially from the Project’s early days when plans changed just as frequent as the Colorado and Gila Rivers meandered. Secondly, the abundant yields of crops call for a good amount of water from the irrigation system which sometimes can steal a little too much water that should have gone to fields down in Mexico. To solve this then and now, ditches are being replaced with more water-efficient sprinkler systems and redistributing water of the Colorado through water
P3
Strom
Rags to Riches in the Desert: How Yuma County became Agriculturally Superior
Ever since the dawn of mankind and the Agricultural Revolution, irrigation has been used to his greatest advantage to grow crops on fertile soil in just almost anywhere from the desert oasis of the Nile River in Egypt to China’s lush Yellow River Valley. The exponential success of the Yuma Valley Irrigation Project is one of these stunning examples of this technological feat that is as old as mankind itself. However, this was not possible without utmost support from the U.S. Government, the superb diligence and persistence of its engineers and the peoples of Yuma County, and the consideration of the benefits and shortfalls in the past and present.
(Question 1) How did geography impact the development of irrigation in Yuma County?
Yuma’s Irrigation Project was not something that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation started simply alone. Before the Bureau’s trials and errors into success, there were numerous unsuccessful attempts at setting up irrigation in Yuma by private companies. The region’s arid geography and the mighty power of the Colorado River were the two prime sources of blame that thwarted the ambitions of those early farmers to use the silt-rich soils of the Yuma Valley. Mr. Don Diego Iaeger was of those whose plans fell …show more content…
The construction of levees, dams, and canals/ditches were pretty costly especially from the Project’s early days when plans changed just as frequent as the Colorado and Gila Rivers meandered. Secondly, the abundant yields of crops call for a good amount of water from the irrigation system which sometimes can steal a little too much water that should have gone to fields down in Mexico. To solve this then and now, ditches are being replaced with more water-efficient sprinkler systems and redistributing water of the Colorado through water