“Such will be the reflections of those unborn scribes, the writers of the year 2001.  Over and over they will tell the story of how the desert was translated.  A million acres of fertile soil and water enough in the Colorado River to irrigate it all without storage!  It is a situation which cannot be duplicated in the world.  Is it any wonder that it flourishes?”
                                                                                                                            -quoted from the Imperial Press and Farmer,  November 9, 1901

The desert of the Imperial Valley was converted into a productive agricultural paradise at the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the last frontiers left in the west for homesteading pioneers. It was an unbelievably harsh environment with little shade and no water until the first canal water arrived in 1901, but the plucky settlers persevered, building themselves an agricultural paradise in the middle of the desert.  And as the water trickled in, so did the settlers, followed soon after by the railroads, and the agricultural development and reclamation of the desert was underway.  

With its temperate climate, abundant sunshine, fertile soil, and long-standing water rights, the Imperial Valley is the ultimate working landscape, producing agricultural products all year long.  Described by Dorothea Lange as “an open air food-factory”, agriculture in the Imperial Valley has always been big business.  Perhaps known best as “America’s winter salad bowl”, the Imperial Valley produces food, forage and fiber for the nation and for the world.  And increasingly,the valley's abundant geothermal and solar resources place it at the forefront of renewable energy projects in the Southwest.

But the Imperial Valley does not produce all of this bounty in a vacuum.  Instead, it is part of a system that stretches from the Colorado River out to the Salton Sea, the pieces of which are interdependent with each depending on the other for its survival.  Agriculture in the Imperial Valley cannot occur with drainage water; irrigation in arid environments such as this can never be a zero-sum game.  About a third of the water that is used in the Imperial Valley will ultimately end up in the Salton Sea.  Yet it is these drainage waters that sustain the Sea, which has become an important wintering and staging area for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway, as well as permanent habitat for many species, some of them endangered.

As the holder of the lion's share of Colorado River water, the Imperial Valley finds itself under pressure to reduce water use and transfer water to urban Southern California water agencies.  In 2003, the Imperial Irrigation District was a signatory to the Quantification Settlement, the largest ag-to-urban transfer in history, agreeing to transfer 30 million acre-feet from primarily agricultural use to primarily urban use over the term of the agreement of 75 years.  However, this reduction in water use means less water for farming and less water for the Salton Sea, putting the future of Sea and one of the last slivers of  remaining wetland habitat on the west coast at risk.

There are three planned installments to this project at this time, with the first part being completed.

Water is the lifeblood of the Imperial Valley, and this slideshow follows the path of the water as it flows from the Colorado River through the Imperial Valley and ultimately into the Salton Sea, providing an in-depth look at the infrastructure and the system that makes the agricultural bounty of the Imperial Valley possible and sustains the Salton Sea in the process. 

Click here to start the presentation.

For over 100 years, the Imperial Valley has been transformed into a working landscape once described by Dorothea Lange as an “open-air food factory”.  Here, agriculture has always been high-tech and not for the faint of heart.  While agriculture will continue to be the Imperial Valley’s main industry, the valley’s resources are being put to use in other ways as well.  This slideshow will take a look at the history of the Imperial Valley and its agricultural and other resources, as well as the valley’s incredible renewable energy potential.

The Salton Sea has its own story to tell, one of boom, bust and dead fish.  Formed when a break in an irrigation canal sent the river flowing into the Salton Trough, the Salton Sea has had a colorful history.  This slideshow will take a look at the history of the sea, where it is today and what the possible alternatives are for its future.