The Wellton-Mohawk canal, near Yuma, Arizona, USA in the early 1950s. Here a canal ‘turnout’ is now in water. The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is located in south-west Arizona, east of Yuma, built between 1949 and 1957. It allows the irrigation in the Lower Gila valley with water from the Colorado river via the Gila Canal to the Wellton-Mohawk Canal, where it is pumped around 160 feet to the headwaters – a vintage 1950s photograph.
The Wellton-Mohawk canal, near Yuma, Arizona, USA in the early 1950s. Here a canal ‘turnout’ is now in water. The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is a water project located on the Lower Gila river in south-west Arizona, east of Yuma. The US Bureau of Reclamation built the scheme between 1949 and 1957. It allows the irrigation of up to 75,000 acres in the Lower Gila valley, between the towns of Wellton and Mohawk with water from the Colorado river via the Gila Canal to the Wellton-Mohawk Canal, where it is pumped around 160 feet in three stages to the headwaters. In 1961 Wellton-Mohawk return began carrying back water to the Gila river and eventually to the Colorado. The increased salinity of the return flow meant Mexico complained to the USA that the water being delivered to them was too salty. In 1973 the United States agreed to correct the situation, primarily through the treatment of water at a desalination plant in Yuma. This image is from an old American amateur 35mm colour transparency. It will look soft and grainy if used at too large a size – a vintage 1950s photograph.
Size: 3248px × 2231px
Location: Gila River, Yuma, Arizona, USA
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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