The California Development Company was formed in 1896 as a replacement for the defunct Colorado River Irrigation Company, which had been started a few years earlier for the purpose of planning an irrigation system for the lower Colorado Desert in California. The rich, silty soil of the area was found to be suitable for agriculture, but wells tapping groundwater brought up an inadequate supply of water for such a hot, arid region. The California Development Company took over the project of diverting Colorado River water into the Coachella and Imperial Valleys in the Salton Sink, a dry lake bed which today contains the Salton Sea, hoping to turn the desert green with agricultural fields. The first canals were being constructed by 1900. 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara (, ) Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... The Colorado Desert (yellow) showing Joshua Tree National Park The Colorado Desert is a large arid depression in southeastern California and northeastern Baja California in Mexico. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of geologic formations. ... The Colorado River from the bottom of Marble Canyon, in the Upper Grand Canyon Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from Desert View The Colorado River is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately 1,450 mi (2,330 km) long, draining a part of the... Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley is an irrigated agricultural and recreational desert valley in southern California east of Los Angeles. ... The Imperial Valley and the Salton Sea, as seen from the Space shuttle. ... The Salton Sink is located in Southeastern California near the Arizona border. ... The Salton Sea (with local/regional cities) The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake, located in the Colorado Desert in Southern California, north of the Imperial Valley. ...

The Imperial Canal was completed within two years. It received water from the Colorado River, which, by the time it had flowed to the Imperial Valley, contained massive amounts of silt. The Imperial Canal filled with silt at an alarming pace. Attempts to create a diversion around the silt blockages led to disaster, when winter flooding in 1905 tumbled the diversion canal. The whole of the Colorado River poured into the Salton Sink, forming the Salton Sea. The area was a scene of flood for two years until the canal breach was mended. As the waters dried up the Salton Sea was reduced in size, but it is still the largest lake in California. The California Development Company was financially strained by this point, and in fact relied upon a financial loan and physical assistance from Southern Pacific Railroad to mend the broken canal. Silt refers to soil or rock particles of a certain very small size range (see grain size). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Southern Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting mark SP) was an American railroad. ...

The costs of the broken structure, as well as from lawsuits over the disaster, made the California Development Company a lost cause. The project of irrigating the valley was assumed by the new Imperial Irrigation District in 1911. A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

See also

• Colorado River