How Irrigation Changed Yuma

Irrigation in the Yuma county is the most vital and precious thing to the Yuma county. This waterway is a way of life and what put Yuma on the map and in leading the way for agriculture and agribusiness.
Irrigation changed Yuma in many ways. The territory in Yuma changed from fifty thousand acres to sixty thousand acres. This is about twenty five miles south of Yuma to the Mexican boundary. All these lands are fertile and productive. They are all also capable of producing enormous crop yields when provided with a sufficient supply of water. In the years of 1858-59 were the most important. People would come permanently because of the discovery of gold on the Gila river. Another significant point was the National Reclamation Act in June 17, 1902.
The Yuma Reclamation Project (YRP) as approved by the president at the time, would Yuma be receiving water but twenty thousand acres in the North Gila valley. In 1913 there was 18 miles of canal that was capable of serving four thousand acres. This significantly changed Yuma because of the irrigation we would not be one of the largest agricultural producers in America. Yuma alone makes about $540 million in agriculture and related industries. Agriculture and other related industries count for one and four jobs in Yuma. Every one hundred jobs in agriculture supports twenty six jobs in other industries. Irrigation in Yuma makes Yuma huge in farming and producing crops, this means Yuma needs transportation, warehousing, real estate, banking, retailing, wholesale trade and also, health care, food and beverage services, retailing, and auto repair. From a small town to a huge competitor in agriculture, irrigation is a huge key for Yuma being in the top 0.1 percent among U.S. counties in vegetable and melon sales. Yuma would be turned into a major agricultural town and would eventually become a huge contributor to the U.S. and would make up our vibrant economy in Arizona. Without irrigation in Yuma, some other place would be the biggest leader in crop production and no one would have ever heard of Yuma, Arizona, and this town would have never been so
This means getting to Yuma and getting the river to Yuma is hard itself. While the river simply flows through Yuma , Yumans had to build around the river. If you were to go to downtown Yuma and see the river and the buildings, you would see only a city right on the river, there is no fields or agriculture in that area. Therefore they had to build canals off the main river farther away, causing more labor and money spent on the development of irrigation. If Yuma had the fields next to the river we wouldn’t had to have build series of canals for Yuma costing, lots of money. Yuma’s geographical landscape is helpful and stressful in ways. The landscape can be stressful because of flooding of the river and destroying railroads and buildings.
The landscape changed also from the development of the canal because of funds from the government for western farm development. The geography of Yuma was changed because of population and construction. These both would significantly change Yuma’s landscape. In 1849 there was a gold rush because of gold found in the Colorado and in California. People would stop and search there then move on and look for gold. This drastically changed the river and made little streams to different