Negative Effects Of Irrigation On Yuma

Words: 1748
Pages: 7

Intro: Irrigation helped Yuma in many ways. Some ways were when they would build dams that helped Yuma control the flooding every time the river would get full and the dam would control the water. And also made it easier for the farmers to get water. This is one of the reasons Yuma is the way it is today.

Question 1: Did the Yuma Project have both positive and negative effects on Yuma County?

I agree that the Yuma Project had both positive and negative effects on Yuma County and here is why. The Yuma Project did have negative effects starting with The Largest Palatial and Steamer Mohave. They talk about when the Dam was built and that had a negative impact on the steamer business because the steam boat couldn’t get through and when they
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The irrigation changed Yuma and Southern Arizona in many different ways. First, it changed it in negative ways because of the steamer business and with the damn getting built which did cause blocking the the way the steamers would go through. So of course there wouldn’t be any any Steamers going through and that means there wouldn’t be any jobs.
The agricultural spot got happened by irrigation projects just like the Laguna Dam. “Today, with a population nearing 100,000, Yuma is an agricultural oasis made possible by irrigation works like Laguna Dam , on the Colorado River 13 miles northeast of town.” The Laguna Dam was used to get water from the Colorado River and irrigate it to millions of farmlands. And some of the things it would irrigate to would be cauliflower , broccoli, and lettuce. Yuma ended up being famous for it lettuce “ a bounty celebrated every January at Yuma Lettuce Days.” But this wasn’t the first time Yuma used irrigation for its crops the Quechan Indians would always use the Colorado River to
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In water use did have reduction in the irrigation acres and to make the the multi- crop that need little water. “ multi-crop production systems that require less water and significant improvements in crop and irrigation management and infrastructure.” Each year the leveling with the farm fields are done with laser leveling systems and bolas which are press wheels. And to get the water flowing to fields across. Yuma growers use highly efficient level furrow to the application efficiencies of its 80-85% range. The trickle irrigation is not really used in Yuma because of high costs but more than just that. The wheat did serve the the crop growers who transition to the growers going to cotton and alfalfa. Or the other multi-crop systems that had vegetables and melons. Around 17% of the land that was irrigated had vegetables during the 70’s and only 10 % was with the “multi-crop production systems.” All through 1970’s all the way to 2010 had Yuma as the premier and dominant winter source during the cold for the vegetables this changed the agricultural systems over the years.

Conclusion :
In conclusion, Irrigation helped Yuma in a variety of different ways. Irrigation was significantly helpful to Yuma because the dams would control flooding from the rivers. Dams were impactful by stopping floods. Also farmers were getting the necessary water they needed. These two important reasons