The Coachella Canal is a
aqueduct that conveys
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
water for irrigation northwest from the
All-American Canal
The All-American Canal is an long aqueduct, located in southeastern California. It conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley and to nine cities. It is the Imperial Valley's only water source, and replaced the Alamo Canal, w ...
to the
Coachella Valley
, map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg
, map_caption = Coachella Valley
, location = California, United States
, coordinates =
, width =
, boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...
north of the
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf o ...
in
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
.
The canal was completed in 1949 and is currently operated by the
Coachella Valley Water District
The Coachella Valley Water District is an independent special district formed in 1918, specifically to protect and conserve local water sources in the Coachella Valley. Since then, the district has grown into a multi-faceted agency that deliver ...
.
Construction of the Coachella Canal began in the 1930s by the
Six Companies, Inc.
Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona.
They later built Parker Dam, a portion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct ...
, but was interrupted by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After the war, work was resumed on the canal and deliveries of water began in the late 1940s.
The canal was mostly earth-lined when it was first constructed, except for the last 38 miles, which were concrete-lined. Today, most of the canal is lined with concrete to prevent water loss from seepage. Grass eating fish are stocked in the canal to prevent water loss to aquatic vegetation.
See also
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All-American Canal
The All-American Canal is an long aqueduct, located in southeastern California. It conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley and to nine cities. It is the Imperial Valley's only water source, and replaced the Alamo Canal, w ...
*
All-American Canal Bridge
*
Alamo Canal
The Alamo Canal ( es, Canal del Álamo) was a long waterway that connected the Colorado River to the head of the Alamo River. The canal was constructed to provide irrigation to the Imperial Valley. A small portion of the canal was located in th ...
*
Imperial Irrigation District
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is an irrigation district that serves the Imperial Valley in Southern California. Established under the State Water Code, the IID supplies roughly of Imperial Valley farmland with raw Colorado River water ...
*
Imperial Land Company The Imperial Land Company was a land colonization company incorporated in California in March, 1900 for the purpose of encouraging settlement of the Imperial Valley thus providing customers for the California Development Company. Imperial Land was ...
*
California Development Company
The California Development Company was formed in 1896 as a replacement for the defunct Colorado River Irrigation Company, which had been started a few years earlier for the purpose of planning an irrigation system for the lower Colorado Desert in ...
*
Imperial Valley
, photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg
, photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image.
, map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg
, map_caption = Map of Imperial ...
References
External links
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Coachella Valley Water District-Water and the Coachella Valley
Imperial Valley
Aqueducts in California
Interbasin transfer
Irrigation in the United States
Coachella Valley
Lower Colorado River Valley
Geography of the Colorado Desert
Bodies of water of Imperial County, California
Bodies of water of Riverside County, California
Transportation buildings and structures in Imperial County, California
Transportation buildings and structures in Riverside County, California
Colorado River
Canals opened in 1949
1949 establishments in California
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