Hoover Dam Case Study

Hoover’s dam is one of the main reason why the irrigation changed Yuma/Southern Arizona. Hoover Dam control the Colorado River water. The colorado river is the main source of water used to irrigate crops, and when it over flows it destroy the crops and yuma will be filled with water. Which is when Hoover dam came and it can help control the flood. “Lives and property formerly at the mercy of the unbridled river are less likely destroyed by destructive floods.” The Hoover Dam is able to do much more than just control flood like it can control water for millions of acre, reduces the clogging sediment, helps the pollution-free, and fish and wildlife conservation.
Laguna Dam is also one of the main reason why irrigation changed in Yuma/ Southern
Arizona. “Finally the government came in and built the Laguna Dam, and if it hadn’t have been for them, we wouldn’t have the irrigation we have now.” Because of Laguna dam thousand of acre of farmland were irrigable. Since the laguna many were irrigable and that’s what made yuma expand and had many housing development. “They were always out there with dredges, trying to the silt out of the canals, but they couldn’t keep up,” That showed that because they build of the Laguna dam the farmers didn’t have to silt out of the canal which helped out alot for farmers to get water for crops.
As acre increases that is able to irrigate the town increases. “ As the acres in irrigation and potentially irrigable acreage increases the town population and the number of town increases.” That is how irrigation changed yuma/ southern arizona, because as more acres as in thousand of acres that are irrigable helps grow the population in Yuma and more towns. It also helps crops to grow more which mean more money and more goods in Yuma.
The developers had so many challenges they had to overcome in yuma. The most well known is the heat, the clog of canals, the flood, the water, etc. “private canal diggers had tried to bring water to Yuma’s desert, so farmers could make use of the year-round sunshine and warm weather. But their canals soon clogged with the sediment.”Those were one of the many challenges they had to face.“And when the flood or drought happens farmers go through so much challenges such as, their crops destroyed, no water to use for their crops, no money made, and a chain of more bad things. One of the challenges that they had to face was the colorado river. The heavy flooding also led to high costs for building head works and levees to hand the flows, or repair them after the floods subsided. Low flows also caused difficulties. Without irrigation water, growing crops rapidly withered and died.” The colorado river is always high and low and it was really bad for farmers because they could never have a healthy good crops, their crops would always be destroyed because of either the flood or drought. Which was why farming in Yuma was so hard and unprofitable which explains why they mostly want to grow plants who isn’t always water thirsty like cactus. The flood is the one that doesn’t just affect the crops but everything including towns. “The people had to have a rowing boat if they wanted to go someplace somewhere.” Also their “shops/market is destroyed by the flood too” Many developers mainly had the struggle of trying to get silt out of canals which was a lot of works for farmers. Their time of trying to get silt out of canals is time wasting, because that’s when they could be out there farming and getting something to grow. Silt was just like a pimple, once u pop the pimple it goes away for a day until a new one comes out. It is never ending and annoying for farmers to have to deal with that all the time and since they used those time to clean up, they are making less crops which means less money made and less profit.
The Yuma project has mostly positive than negative effects on Yuma Country.
All the Yuma projects were the reasons why we were able to expand and able to” irrigate 61,500 acres of land at the end of 1989.” Also the projects made the Yuma Country expand and got attention to many farmers/ developers, because they were able to farm more efficiently which means more produce which equals to profits. The Yuma Auxiliary project had a couple of positive and some negative effect. One of the positive was when the project was done they completed building “3.6 miles of canals and 18 miles of laterals.” The negative “was seepage bringing alkali to the surface. Rodents, especially rats and gophers, endangered project canals with their
burrows.” The Yuma Siphon looked like it attracted a lot people because when it was successful which it was a lot of people got together to celebrate it.
Which means that the project “increased population since there’s a lot of people celebrating” and could possibly got more people to live in yuma since they see potential. All the Yuma projects had increased more land to be irrigable since they were able to get more water now and use water efficiently so it was able to produce enormous crops. One of the negative is the steamboat. Ever since they build the Laguna Dam it completely “marked the end of the steamboat era.”Laguna Dam was why the beginning of irrigated agriculture occurred in 1909. Laguna Dam was really just a “diversion dam, channeling water from the Colorado River to irrigate millions of acres of farmland” so that is a huge positive effect on the Yuma Country and most of the projects had more positive than negative. So overall most of the yuma projects was successful and had more positive than negative effect on yuma country and now we have an expanding city that once came from nothing to something to an actual improving city. Mainly I think what made yuma expand was the gold rush after when california started to ran out of gold they came to Yuma to get gold and that’s mainly why yuma was popular but that’s off topic and is not what this whole thing is
about.
If it wasn’t for the Hoover Dam Yuma wouldn’t have thousands extra acre of land that was able to be irrigated. The Hoover dam impacted the development of irrigation in Yuma County so much that without the hoover dam I don’t know if the land would ever be as fertile as it is. The Hoover dam did so much for Yuma like it controlled the flood and prevented drought. Especially Droughts because in yuma it’s always super hot so water evaporates quickly and faster in the summer. The Hoover dam was everything for us since it controls the colorado river from having too much water so it wouldn’t overflow and we all have floods and a ruin crop. It also allows more water to enter the colorado river when water supply in the colorado river is not sufficient. I know this is all about irrigation but it helps for our power too. Since the hoover dam also help meet power needs in Arizona so most of our power is from the Hoover dam creating electricity which is a low cost hydroelectric power. It also helps reduce the damage of canals and irrigation ditches from being clogged from the sediment. Overall Yuma irrigation had to do with the hoover dam, the laguna dam, the colorado river, everything! All the Yuma projects and the geographical projects was the reason why Yuma can irrigate thousand and thousand of acre of land. Yuma had so much problem such as clog in canal, flood, drought, etc. Thanks to all these projects we don’t have to worry about any of that anymore. Yuma is now a town that is expanding and increasing, and have a good farming land that the soil is a good rich soil to plant things on such as citrus, oranges, lettuce and other fruits and vegetable.