Early History of Water in the Imperial Valley

Home , Coachella Canal, George Chaffey, Imperial Dam, Imperial Valley, Phil Swing

^ƚƵĚǇ'ƵŝĚĞ for Educators͗ Early History of Water in the Imperial Valley

tƌŝƚƚĞŶďǇĂŶĚĚŝƌĞĐƚĞĚBrian McNeece &ƵŶĚĞĚďǇ/ŵƉĞƌŝĂů/ƌƌŝŐĂƚŝŽŶŝƐƚƌŝĐƚ Here are some tips to help educators use the video to teach about the early history of the Imperial Valley. As in presenting any lesson, you first get the students ready to watch the video. Then they watch it. And last you discuss what you watched and perhaps assign work for students to explore the topic further. Learning Outcomes: After watching this video students will know

1. The Imperial Valley had few permanent residents prior to the arrival of irrigation water from the Colorado River in 1901. 2. Prior to the Valley’s settlement, it was repeatedly filled with a giant lake by a meandering Colorado River 3. In the mid-1800s, travelers and scientists realized the Imperial Valley could be irrigated from the Colorado River by gravity. 4. Several of the attempts to bring water to the Imperial Valley failed. 5. Charles Rockwood started the California Development Company and tried for seven years to find funding to bring water. 6. George Chaffey was the one who actually brought water to the Valley in 1901. 7. Before dams were built, the Colorado River had huge variations in flow, and so the California Development Company couldn’t deliver water in early spring without making risky diversions of the Colorado River. 8. In 1905, the Colorado River overflowed its banks and flowed into the Imperial Valley, flooding many settlers’ farms and forming the Salton Sea. 9. The Southern Pacific Railroad took over the California Development Company and spent millions to put the Colorado River back into its channel. 10. The Imperial Irrigation Company took over the irrigation system from the Southern Pacific Railroad after it was formed in 1911. 1. Assess students’ current knowledge of the history of water in Imperial Valley. Questions: a. “Where does our water come from?” (It is diverted from the Colorado River at Imperial Dam north of Yuma and comes via the All-American Canal.)

b. “How long have people lived in the Imperial Valley?” (A few lived here after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill north east of San Francisco in 1849, but the Valley didn’t get a rush of permanent settlers until irrigation water arrived in 1901.)

c. “What do you know about the Salton Sea? Where is it? How big is it? How was it formed? Is it a healthy body of water with lots of fish and recreation?”

d. “Can you describe the main canals that bring water to Imperial Valley farmers?” (Today the All-American Canal feeds three main canals, the East Highline, the Central Main, and the West Main. All of them run north from the Mexican border. Water is supplied by gravity all the way from the Colorado River. The Coachella Canal also carries water to the Coachella Valley.)

e. Besides the Imperial Valley, what other places depend on the Colorado River for their water supply? (The Colorado River supplies water to seven states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Imperial Valley has the largest allocation, but the cities of Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, San Diego, and Los Angeles are also very dependent on Colorado River water.)

2. Show video

3. Discussion. After the video ask students for their reactions. a. “What did you think of that video?”

b. “What caught your attention the most in the video?”

c. “What did you learn?”

d. “How do you feel about learning about the history of how water arrived to the Imperial Valley?

e. “What questions do you have?” Each one of these questions might elicit discussion that you can follow up with. Try to keep the conversation going. Then you might want to ask about the key characters in turn. Dr. Oliver Wozencraft the 49er, William Blake the geologist, Charles Rockwood the engineer and surveyor, Anthony Heber the businessman, Dr. William Heffernan the investor, George Chaffey the irrigation specialist and entrepreneur, Harry Thomas Cory the engineering professor, John Eshleman the attorney, and Phil Swing the congressman. Have any of the students heard of these names before? We have roads named after Rockwood and Heber and Heffernan. There is a Phil Swing School in Brawley. Many of other pioneers who are not mentioned in the video have streets named after them.

An interesting fact is that there are no streets named after George Chaffey because for many years, Charles Rockwood blamed Chaffey for the flooding of the Valley in 1905-1907. It took many years for Chaffey to clear his name. The flooding came about primarily because of an extremely wet year in Arizona. Your students might be aware that water has become very precious in the southwest, especially so now that we have been in a drought. The part of the video where it describes how William Heffernan posted claims on the side of the river should be discussed. These early postings form the original legal basis for the Imperial Irrigation District’s water rights to the Colorado River water today.

A huge body of documents known as the Law of the River spells out how much water goes to each state and agency along the River. Water is measured in acre-feet, or the amount of water it takes to cover one acre of land one foot deep. The IID has rights to 3.1 million acre-feet of water per year, minus water that is transferred to Los Angeles, San Diego, Coachella, and Las Vegas. Even after these transfers, the IID has rights to much more water than these large cities.

4. Possible follow up projects. Depending on the grade level of your students, you can tailor research projects. Here are some suggested topics. a) Find out more about Philip David Swing. The Swing-Johnson Bill. The Boulder Canyon Project. The building of Hoover Dam (also known as Boulder Dam) b) The All-American Canal and Imperial Dam. c) The Bureau of Reclamation—this agency controls all the dams along the Colorado River. d) The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo—this is the treaty following the Mexican-American War in 1848-1849 that brought California, New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Texas into the United States. e) The International Boundary and Water Commission. This is a bi-national agency that oversees water and land issues along the border with Mexico. f) The Colorado Compact of 1922. This agreement divided the waters of the Colorado River into an Upper and Lower Basin. g) The Quantification Settlement Agreement of 2003. This agreement established more clearly how much water each California agency was entitled to and also implemented a water transfer from Imperial Valley to San Diego over 75 years. It also spelled out how the Salton Sea would be saved from drying up. h) Do research on the formation of each city in the Imperial Valley. i) Visit the Pioneers Museum on Aten Road. Pick one of the ethnic groups represented there and write a report on the exhibit. j) Visit the Swiss Club 1585 E Worthington Rd., Holtville, CA 92250; 1-760-356-1823 and write a report on your visit.