At various times during this period the entirety of the Colorado River was diverted into the canal. ĭuring the subsequent seasonal floods of 1904 through to late 1906, a large amount of the water carried in the Colorado River flowed directly into the Salton Sink. The breach, known as the Lower Mexican Intake, and constructed without headgates and without the permission of the Mexican authorities, allowed the Colorado River to flow unimpeded into the canal, and then to Imperial Valley farms. Charles Rockwood, faced with bankruptcy and "after mature deliberation", directed the engineering of a breach in the bank of the Colorado River approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the existing wooden headgates (the Chaffey Gate). Imperial Valley farmers, under considerable financial stress, pressured the California Development Company to resolve the problem. In 1904 heavy silting greatly reduced the water-carrying capacity of the canal. Creation of the Salton Sea Dry bed of the Colorado River below the Lower Mexican Intake. In 1906 work was completed on the permanent concrete headgates at Hanlon Heading. Ī small amount of irrigation water was first delivered to the Imperial Valley in 1901, with larger flows becoming available in 1902. This path was selected to avoid the expensive engineering that would otherwise be required if the canal were to traverse the Algodones Dunes. The canal then crossed the border with Mexico and ran parallel to the Colorado River for approximately 4 miles (6 km), where a channel was cut several miles west to the head of the Alamo River. The canal intake and temporary wooden headgates (known as the Chaffey Gate) were initially located in the United States at Pilot Knob due to the availability of a solid rock foundation. It was engineered by George Chaffey of the California Development Company starting in 1900. The Alamo Canal was the first attempt to create that diversion. Wozencraft, proposed irrigating the Salton Sink by diverting a controlled gravity-fed flow of the Colorado River through the existing dry Alamo River bed. In the mid- to late-Nineteenth Century several individuals, most notably O. Flow from the Alamo River then drained to the Salton Sink area of the Colorado Desert. Historically, the Colorado River flowed to the Gulf of California, however in times of the spring floods the Colorado River would overflow its banks and also drain into the Alamo River. The Alamo Canal is also known as the Imperial Canal. A small portion of the canal was located in the United States but the majority of the canal was located in Mexico. The canal was constructed to provide irrigation to the Imperial Valley. The Alamo Canal ( Spanish: Canal del Álamo) was a 14 mi (23 km) long waterway that connected the Colorado River to the head of the Alamo River.
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