All over the world the development of Rivers has always been part of man's progress
is conquest of rivers
and his improvement of them for his own use straighted by the rivers of our own
west.
Let's consider the four main rivers of the Pacific slope to see for ourselves how
important they are
and how they have been made useful to the people of the western United States
in the northwest.
The Columbia River has played a vital role in the development of Washington
and Oregon.
The Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers are equally important to the Great Central Valley of
California.
And the Colorado River is of dry Mendis value to seven states in our Southwest.
Starting with the Columbia. Let us look at each of the four others.
That Columbia five miles wide at its mouth is deep enough to carry big ocean
vessels upstream for a distance of one hundred miles.
As much as ten million tons of freight are carried each year by ships on the
Columbia one of the many products of the Pacific Northwest is lumber.
Washington Oregon the greatest lumber producing states in our country from their
great forests some of the timber is carried on the Columbia River in the form of
log rafts small tugs told the rafts to sawmills on the rivers banks here the logs
are cut into lumber
and then loaded into freighters for shipment down the Columbia
and out into the Pacific Ocean to the parts of the world.
Another valuable product
that is carried on the great Columbia waterway is wheat wheat
that is grown in the Columbia River Basin.
The Columbia River is also the home of salmon
and yields much of the nation's supply of this faith.
Salmon are caught in the river
and also in the ocean along the Pacific coast about seventy million pounds of
salmon are caught each year in the Pacific Coast states from canneries such as this
salmon are shipped down the Columbia to many parts of the world.
Center of shipping
and commerce on the Columbia is the city of Portland located on the lam at River a
tributary of the Columbia.
One of the new
or industries along the Columbia is the refining of aluminum such metal industries
require a tremendous supply of electricity which is furnished by Bonneville Dam
more than a half million kilowatts of electric energy are produced in Bonneville ZP
our hearts but dam not only puts the Columbia River to work producing power
but it improves navigation by deepening the river above the dam
and by providing locks which lift the river boats from the lower river through the
higher level above the dam far upstream deep in the state of Washington.
But Colombia's fanned by another dam Grand Coulee one of the greatest structures in
the world this dam was built to supply water for irrigation
and water for power here is water for power water
that tumbles down five hundred feet with tremendous for us to turn the generators
that produce electricity
and here is water for irrigation the vast reservoir held by the dam.
Eventually this water will be used to irrigate more than a million acres of land.
And the spring new world through the Pacific Northwest irrigation is the
principal purpose for which man is developed the Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers
and the Great Central Valley of California the land in the Central Valley is
fertile.
But it needs water to make it productive to supply this water to great dams were
completed in nineteen forty four one of these is just a dam on the headwaters of
the Sacramento River.
Some of the water held by this dam comes from the slopes of Mount justice.
Although its main function is to store water just a dam provides flood control
and is a source of electric power for the people of the valley it serves the other
dam in the Central Valley is free on Dam on the San Joaquin River get supplies
water to the southern half of the great central valley from the dam a precious
water of the center walking river is carefully distributed through a network of
irrigation canals booster stations pump the water to higher canals
and control Gates regulate the flow into smaller going out.
Until the water finally reaches the fields two million acres of land will
eventually benefit from the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Systems.
Not only have these two rivers made the Central Valley of California region of
agricultural well
but they are also used for commerce both rivers flow into the Bay of scent
Francisco and goods from
that seaport are shipped up the Sacramento River to the city of Sacramento
and up the center Joaquin River and through the inland part of Stockton
and sold two rivers the Sacramento
and the San Joaquin are used by man to increase crops to carry commerce
and to develop power in the Central Valley of California.
The Colorado River is an outstanding example of a river which man has put through
his own use.
From its arson the Rocky Mountains the Colorado flows south through Utah
and Arizona much of this region is dry wasteland.
And the river at self is normally shallow and of no use for navigation.
Yet man has made this river.
Great about imperial dam on the lower Colorado diverts the precious water from the
river into a vast irrigation system this dam does not store water
but channels it through these big roller gates
and into this this building Basin after the sand
and mud settle to the bottom of a clean clear water enters the all-American going
out for a hundred miles this man made canal
and carries the water of the Colorado River through the desert of Southern
California through the Imperial Valley and the court shall Of out.
Here the water is carefully directed on to the land. The result is surprising.
Land that was once dry and Veron yields rich crops when irrigated.
With the help of water from the Colorado.
The man has created new wells things Southern California.
But the Colorado does much more farther up the river above them aerial dam is
Parker dam. Parker dam was built not for irrigation.
But to divert water for the city of Los Angeles from this reservoir behind Parker
dam million gallons of water a day pass through this pumping station
and into the Los Angeles aqueduct for three hundred miles over mountains
and through the desert the water is pumped up until it reaches Los Angeles
and there is still one more project that man has built to make use of the Colorado.
That project is Hoover Dam one of the biggest structures ever made by man to put a
river to work the great reservoir behind Hoover Dam is called Lake Mead the
water is used for irrigation and to supply the homes and factories
and cities of southern California Arizona
and Nevada the water also produces electric power for more than three million users
in the southwest.
But damage self eliminates the rushing spring floods of the river below Hoover Dam
The Colorado River flows evenly throughout the year.
Useful
and valuable servant to the people of the great Southwest's in addition to its
tremendous economic importance. The Colorado offers beauty and recreation.
This is the Grand Canyon of the upper Colorado.
One of the scenic wonders of the world his famous Canyon is another asset of the
Colorado. One of the most beautiful
and useful rivers of the Pacific slope.
These rivers as we have seen.
The Columbia in the Pacific Northwest the Sacramento and San Joaquin
and California.
And the Colorado all in the southwest of the Columbia you remember is why Deep
River
that carries ocean going ships navigation on the Columbia is improved by Bonneville
Dam
and electric power for the Northwest is supplied by Grand Coulee Dam in
California both the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers are used for shipping.
But remember
that they are more valuable for irrigating the Great Central Valley of California
in the southwest. It is the Colorado which has been brought to work irrigating.
In Southern California and Arizona.
Supplying water to Los Angeles
and creating a like trick power for the Southwest.
In our four rivers of the Pacific slope.
We have seen examples of the many ways in which man has put rivers to work for his
own benefit the development of the Pacific slope is part of the story of man
and his use of rivers in our changing world.