The Palo Verde Valley (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Valle de Palo Verde'') is located in the Lower Colorado River Valley, next to the eastern border of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

with

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. It is located on the

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

within the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

south of the

Parker Valley The Parker Valley is located along the Lower Colorado River within the Lower Colorado River Valley region, in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California. Its natural habitats are within the Sonoran Desert (Arizona) and Colorado Desert (C ...

. Most of the valley is in

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

, with the southern remainder in

Imperial County Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

La Paz County La Paz County is the 15th county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the second-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Parker. Th ...

borders to the east on the Colorado River. The region is the ancestral home of several Native American tribes: the

Quechan The Quechan (or Yuma) ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite th ...

, the Chemehuevi and Matxalycadom or

Halchidhoma The Halchidhoma ( Maricopa: Xalychidom Piipaa or Xalychidom Piipaash – 'people who live toward the water') are an Indian tribe now living mostly on the Salt River reservation, but formerly native to the area along the lower Colorado River in C ...

, some who have

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

s in California and Arizona along the Colorado and Gila Rivers today.

Geography

The Palo Verde Valley is part of the Sonoran Desert's

. The

Big Maria Mountains The Big Maria Mountains are located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of California, near the Colorado River and Arizona. The range lies between Blythe and Vidal, and west of U.S. Route 95 in California and east of Midland. The mountains ...

are north of the valley, and the Colorado River forms the valley's boundaries to the east and south. Other mountains nearby are the

McCoy Mountains The McCoy Mountains are located in southeastern California in the United States. The southeast terminus of the range lies adjacent the western edge of the Parker Valley in a southern stretch of the Lower Colorado River Valley corridor. Geography ...

to the west (north in Interstate 10), the

Chocolate Mountains The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial County, California, Imperial and Riverside County, California, Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) ...

to the south, the

Little Maria Mountains The Little Maria Mountains are located in southeastern California in the United States. The range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction east of the Palen Mountains and west of the Big Maria Mountains. The mountain range is approximately 15 m ...

to the northwest, and the

Dome Rock Mountains The Dome Rock Mountains are a mountain range in southern La Paz County, Arizona. The range borders the Colorado River on the west and the Colorado River Indian Reservation on the northwest located in the Lower Colorado River Valley. Quartzsite, ...

to the east.

Features

Agriculture is the valley's most important industry since indigenous farming. Crops include

melons A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and

vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

. The Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID), with its water sourced from the Palo Verde Diversion Dam, controls the canal system for these fields. Dating back to Thomas Henry Blythe's filing in 1877, the PVID has the most senior Colorado River water rights of any California agency. The city of

Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind"). People * Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...

is in the center of the Palo Verde Valley and is the only incorporated community. Other communities include

Mesa Verde Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...

, Ripley, and Palo Verde. Across the Colorado from the southern edge of the Palo Verde Valley is Cibola Valley.

Water transfers to MWD

In a 2005 agreement,

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a regional wholesaler and the largest supplier of treated water in the United States. The name is usually shortened to "Met," "Metropolitan," or "MWD." It is a cooperative of fourteen cit ...

(MWD) negotiated with PVID in Blythe to fallow, or idle, farm land for 35 years. The deal will transfer water that would have been used for farming in the area of Blythe, Ripley and Palo Verde to MWD. According to a 1990 pilot study, water diversions and fallowed farm land reduced farming employment. The MWD provided $6 million in a development fund to reimburse the community for losses caused by shifting water to urban areas. California currently uses more than its allotted share of water from the

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 ...

. The transfer agreement also seeks to address over-use of river water. It is partly designed to reduce overall diversions from the river. In 2015, MWD purchased more than in the valley in addition to owned as of 2004, and is now PVID's biggest landowner. The

Irvine Ranch Water District Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) is a California Special District formed in 1961 and incorporated under thCalifornia water code IRWD headquarters are located in Irvine, California. IRWD offers the following services: potable water sales, sewer ...

also purchased . On August 4, 2017, PVID filed a lawsuit against MWD over the latter's most recent land purchase and six land leases, which was accused of illegally obtaining water rights.

Transportation

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

goes through the Palo Verde Valley in an east-west direction across Blythe. US Route 95 goes through the northeastern part of the Valley.

California State Route 78 State Route 78 (SR 78) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Oceanside east to Blythe, traversing nearly the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) in San Diego County and its e ...

's northern terminus is near the valley's western edge from Interstate 10. The

Blythe Airport Blythe Airport is seven miles west of Blythe, in Riverside County, California, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. History Blythe Airport was est ...

is west of the valley. Rail transportation by the

Arizona and California Railroad The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchas ...

served the valley until 2007. Public transportation, by bus is operated by Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency, which offers lifeline service to the Coachella valley

References

External links