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Imperial Dam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Imperial Dam is a dam near Yuma, Arizona (USA), built in the 1930s. It diverted Colorado River water into three different canals and held the river water until it could be directed into a desilting plant before being released into the All-American Canal, the Gila River, and the Yuma project aqueduct. Because it was built between 1932 and 1940, The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) relied on water from two temporary canals: The Inter-California canal and the Imperial canal (Alamo river).
The dam was built with three sections; the gates of each section hold back the water to help divert the water towards the desilting plant. Three giant desilting basins and seventy-two 770 foot long scrapers hold and desilt the water; the removed silt is carried away by six sludge-pipes running under the Colorado River that dump the sediment into the California sluiceway, which returns the silt to the Colorado River. The water is now directed back towards one of the three sections which divert the water into one of the three channels.
The Gila River and the Yuma project aqueduct branch off towards Arizona while the All-American canal branches southwards for thirty-seven miles before reaching its headworks on the California border and bends west towards the Imperial Valley.
Though the All-American canal moves millions of gallons of water into Imperial Valley every year, thousands of it are lost do to seepage problems. IID and Mexican authorities are debating on whether or not to line the All-American canal with concrete. The Mexican authorities are opposed to the All-American canal lining project, as the leaking water allows Mexican farmers to irrigate their crops with well-water.
