Yuma Project
The Yuma Project is a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project built to irrigate over 68,000 acres (280 km2) of land in Yuma County, Arizona and parts of Imperial County, California. The project is designed to exploit year-round farming conditions and water from the Colorado River. It consists of the Laguna Diversion Dam, pumping plants, a power plant, a 53-mile (85 km) system of canals, 218 miles (351 km) of lateral canals, levees and drains. The project began in 1903 and the majority of the work was completed by 1915. It was the first dam and reclamation project on the Colorado River and workers had to overcome many natural and logistical obstacles to build and maintain it. The Laguna Diversion Dam was replaced by the Imperial Dam as the Project's water source between 1941 and 1948. Today, it serves 275 farms and over 94,000 people.
Although temperatures in the southern areas of Arizona and California tend to be hot and precipitation averages 3.5 inches (89 mm) a year, the region features a year-round farming season and the Colorado River. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Yuma County Water Users' Association wanted to exploit these conditions and create a large area of irrigation-fed farming. The project would be split into two divisions, the Valley Division in Yuma County, Arizona and the Reservation Division in Imperial County, California. The Reservation Division was further broken down into the Bard Unit and the Indian Unit. The Reservation Division and Bard Unit occupy much of what was Fort Yuma Indian Reservation.
In 1854, the United States purchased the future Yuma Project's land in the Gasden Purchase but had created the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation in 1884 to settle the indigenous Quechuan Indians. Much of the land was disputed in the 1890s and in 1910, the Dawes Severalty Act opened the land to white settlers which led to further disputes. A series of court battles between the United States and the landholders led to the United States winning a decision and acquiring the land in 1898.
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