Yuma Quartermaster Depot - Siphon exhibit (#0903)

In 1909 Laguna Dam was built upstream of Yuma and extensive canals were built to deliver irrigation (and drinking) water. A major obstacle, however, for getting water from those canals to the agricultural Yuma valley was that water diverted from the dam had to cross the Colorado. A siphon was built to take water from the canal on the California side of the river, carry it under the river, and deliver it to the canals on the Arizona (Yuma) side of the river.

This diagram shows the depth and length of the siphon; the siphon was completed in 1912 (see subsequent pictures). Resources describing the siphon include a somewhat too dramatic video ( www.usbr.gov/lc/yuma/facilities/siphon/video ) and ( www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Yuma%20Project )