New Irrigation System

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 15118, 29 October 1949, Page 5

New Irrigation System

Underground Piping Of Water

Revolutionary Project ■ln Southern California

Completion of a vast underground pipe line system in 1952 will provide one of the most fertile fruit and vegetable growing areas of the United States with a dependab’e water supply for the first time in its history.

The United States Bureau- of Reclamation is constructing the pipe-line project to distribute the waters of the Colorado River to 77,009 acres of irrigable land in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. By the end of June 1950, the underground system will enable Coachella Valley farmers to water about 45 000 acres of thenlands. When the project is competed, the entire area will be irrigated bv Colorado River water, Previously, only about 18,000 acres cculd be watered by pumping from underground storage. Water from the Colorado River comes to the Valley through the 123mile Coachella Main Canal, completed in 1948. After careful study, the Bureau decided that the best method of distributing the water throughout the valley would be a 475-mile underground pipe system. This, the Bureau believes, will reduce losses by seepage and evaporation. By permitting accurate measurement of water, it also will cut waste. The valley’s need for a continued and adeouatc water supply is emphasised by the fact that it is already a major source of dates, citrus, grapes and vegetables for the nation’s markets.