WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:19.001 --> 00:00:23.001 Music All over the world, the development of rivers has always 00:00:23.001 --> 00:00:25.000 been part of man's progress. 00:00:25.001 --> 00:00:30.000 His conquest of rivers and his improvement of them for his own use, and straited 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.001 by the rivers of our own west. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:37.001 Let's consider the four main rivers of the Pacific Slope to see for ourselves how 00:00:37.001 --> 00:00:41.000 important they are, and how they have been made useful to the 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:42.001 people of the western United States. 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:50.000 In the northwest, the Columbia River has played a vital role in the 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.000 development of Washington and Oregon. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:58.000 The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are equally important to the great 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:59.001 central valley of California. 00:01:01.001 --> 00:01:07.000 And the Colorado River is of tremendous value to seven states in our southwest. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.001 Starting with the Columbia, let us look at each of the four rivers. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:19.001 The Columbia, five miles wide at its mouth, is deep enough to carry big ocean 00:01:19.001 --> 00:01:23.000 vessels upstream for a distance of 100 miles. 00:01:23.001 --> 00:01:26.001 As much as 10 million tons of freight are carried each 00:01:26.001 --> 00:01:28.001 year by ships on the Columbia. 00:01:29.001 --> 00:01:33.000 One of the many products of the Pacific Northwest is lumber. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.001 Washington and Oregon are the greatest lumber producing states in our country. 00:01:38.001 --> 00:01:43.000 From their great forests, some of the timber is carried on the Columbia River in 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:44.001 the form of log rafts. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 Small tugs tow the rafts to saw mills on the river's banks. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.001 Here the logs are cut into lumber and then loaded into freighters for shipment 00:01:53.001 --> 00:01:58.001 down the Columbia and out into the Pacific Ocean to the ports of the world. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.000 Another valuable product that is carried on the great Columbia waterway is wheat. 00:02:05.001 --> 00:02:08.000 Wheat that is grown in the Columbia River basin. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.000 The Columbia River is also the home of salmon and yields much of the 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:14.001 nation's supply of this fish. 00:02:17.001 --> 00:02:21.001 Salmon are caught in the river and also in the ocean along the Pacific coast. 00:02:22.001 --> 00:02:26.000 About 70 million pounds of salmon are caught each year 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.001 in the Pacific coast states. 00:02:28.001 --> 00:02:32.001 From canneries such as this, salmon are shipped down the Columbia 00:02:32.001 --> 00:02:34.001 to many parts of the world. 00:02:36.001 --> 00:02:41.001 Center of shipping and commerce on the Columbia is the city of Portland, located 00:02:41.001 --> 00:02:44.001 on the Willamette River, a tributary of the Columbia. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.000 One of the newer industries along the Columbia is the refining of aluminum. 00:02:50.001 --> 00:02:55.001 Such metal industries require a tremendous supply of electricity, which is 00:02:55.001 --> 00:02:57.000 furnished by Bonneville Dam. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.001 More than a half million kilowatts of electric energy are produced 00:03:01.001 --> 00:03:03.000 in Bonneville's powerhouse. 00:03:04.001 --> 00:03:09.000 The dam not only puts the Columbia River to work producing power, but it improves 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:14.001 navigation by deepening the river above the dam and by providing locks which lift 00:03:14.001 --> 00:03:18.000 the river boats from the lower river to the higher level above the dam. 00:03:18.001 --> 00:03:24.001 Far upstream, deep in the state of Washington, the Columbia is spanned by another 00:03:24.001 --> 00:03:29.000 dam, Grand Coulee, one of the greatest structures in the world. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:35.000 This dam was built to supply water for irrigation and water for power. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Here is water for power, water that tumbles down 500 feet with tremendous force 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.001 to turn the generators that produce electricity. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:51.000 And here is water for irrigation, a vast reservoir held by the dam. 00:03:54.001 --> 00:03:59.000 Eventually, this water will be used to irrigate more than a million acres of land 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:02.001 and thus bring new wealth to the Pacific Northwest. 00:04:05.001 --> 00:04:09.001 Irrigation is the principal purpose for which man has developed the Sacramento 00:04:09.001 --> 00:04:14.000 and San Joaquin rivers in the great Central Valley of California. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.000 The land in the Central Valley is fertile, but it 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.001 needs water to make it productive. 00:04:20.001 --> 00:04:25.000 To supply this water, two great dams were completed in 1944. 00:04:26.001 --> 00:04:30.000 One of these is Shasta Dam on the headwaters of the Sacramento River. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:34.001 Some of the water held by this dam comes from the slopes of Mount Shasta. 00:04:35.001 --> 00:04:41.000 Although its main function is to store water, Shasta Dam provides flood control 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 and is a source of electric power for the people of the valley it serves. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.000 The other dam in the Central Valley is Freunt Dam on the San Joaquin River. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.001 It supplies water to the southern half of the great Central Valley. 00:04:56.001 --> 00:05:01.001 From the dam, a precious water of the San Joaquin River is carefully distributed 00:05:01.001 --> 00:05:03.001 through a network of irrigation canals. 00:05:04.001 --> 00:05:10.000 Booster stations pump the water to higher canals and control gates regulate the 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.000 flow into smaller canals until the water finally reaches the fields. 00:05:15.001 --> 00:05:19.001 Two million acres of land will eventually benefit from the Sacramento and 00:05:19.001 --> 00:05:21.001 San Joaquin river systems. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:27.000 Not only have these two rivers made the Central Valley of California a region of 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.001 agricultural wealth, but they are also used for commerce. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:36.001 Both rivers flow into the Bay of San Francisco, and goods from that seaport are 00:05:36.001 --> 00:05:42.000 shipped up the Sacramento River to the city of Sacramento, and up the San Joaquin 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.001 River to the inland port of Stockton. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:52.001 And so, two rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, are used by men to 00:05:52.001 --> 00:05:57.001 increase crops, to carry commerce, and to develop power in the 00:05:57.001 --> 00:05:59.001 Central Valley of California. 00:06:01.001 --> 00:06:06.000 The Colorado River is an outstanding example of a river which man 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.000 has put to his own use. 00:06:08.001 --> 00:06:12.000 From its source in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado flows 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.001 south through Utah and Arizona. 00:06:14.001 --> 00:06:19.000 Much of this region is dry wasteland, and the river itself is normally shallow 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.000 and of no use for navigation. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.001 Yet man has made this river of great value. 00:06:26.001 --> 00:06:32.000 Imperial Dam on the lower Colorado diverts the precious water from the river into 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.000 a vast irrigation system. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.000 This dam does not store water, but channels it through these big roller gates 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.000 and into this desilting basin. 00:06:43.001 --> 00:06:48.000 After the sand and mud settle to the bottom, the clean, clear water enters 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.000 the All-American Canal. 00:06:50.001 --> 00:06:56.000 For a hundred miles, this man-made canal carries the water of the Colorado River 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.000 through the desert of Southern California, to the Imperial 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.001 Valley, and the Coachella Valley. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Here, the water is carefully directed onto the land. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.001 The result is surprising. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Land that was once dry and barren yields rich crops when irrigated. 00:07:14.001 --> 00:07:19.000 With the help of water from the Colorado, man has created new 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.000 wealth in Southern California. 00:07:22.001 --> 00:07:24.001 But the Colorado does much more. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.000 Farther up the river, above Imperial Dam, is Parker Dam. 00:07:30.001 --> 00:07:34.000 Parker Dam was built not for irrigation, but to divert water 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.000 for the city of Los Angeles. 00:07:36.001 --> 00:07:42.001 From this reservoir behind Parker Dam, a million gallons of water a day pass 00:07:42.001 --> 00:07:47.000 through this pumping station and into the Los Angeles aqueduct. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.001 For 300 miles over mountains and through the desert, the water is pumped 00:07:52.001 --> 00:07:54.000 until it reaches Los Angeles. 00:07:55.001 --> 00:07:58.000 And there is still one more project that man has 00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.001 built to make use of the Colorado. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:05.001 That project is Hoover Dam, one of the biggest structures ever made by 00:08:05.001 --> 00:08:07.001 man to put a river to work. 00:08:08.001 --> 00:08:12.000 The great reservoir behind Hoover Dam is called Lake Mead. 00:08:13.001 --> 00:08:18.000 The water is used for irrigation and to supply the homes and factories in cities 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.000 of Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:26.000 The water also produces electric power for more than three 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.001 million users in the Southwest. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.000 The dam itself eliminates the rushing spring floods of the river. 00:08:33.001 --> 00:08:39.000 Below Hoover Dam, the Colorado River flows evenly throughout the year, a useful 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.001 and valuable servant to the people of the great Southwest. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.001 In addition to its tremendous economic importance, the Colorado offers 00:08:48.001 --> 00:08:50.000 beauty and recreation. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:55.000 This is the Grand Canyon of the Upper Colorado, one of the 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.001 scenic wonders of the world. 00:08:57.001 --> 00:09:02.001 This famous canyon is another asset of the Colorado, one of the most beautiful 00:09:02.001 --> 00:09:05.001 and useful rivers of the Pacific Slope. 00:09:08.001 --> 00:09:15.001 These rivers, as we have seen, are the Columbia in the Pacific Northwest, the 00:09:15.001 --> 00:09:22.001 Sacramento and San Joaquin in California, and the Colorado in the Southwest. 00:09:23.001 --> 00:09:29.001 The Columbia, you remember, is a wide, deep river that carries ocean-going ships. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:36.000 Navigation on the Columbia is improved by Bonneville Dam, and electric power for 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.001 the Northwest is supplied by Grand Coulee Dam. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:46.001 In California, both the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are used for shipping, 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.000 but remember that they are more valuable for irrigating the great 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 Central Valley of California. 00:09:54.001 --> 00:10:00.000 In the Southwest, it is the Colorado which has been put to work, irrigating 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.001 Southern California and Arizona, supplying water to Los Angeles, and creating 00:10:06.001 --> 00:10:08.000 electric power for the Southwest. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.000 In our four rivers of the Pacific Slope, we have seen examples of the many ways 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.001 in which man has put rivers to work for his own benefit. 00:10:20.001 --> 00:10:26.001 The development of the Pacific Slope is part of the story of man and his use of 00:10:26.001 --> 00:10:29.000 rivers in our changing world.