Everything about Imperial Valley California totally explained
The
Imperial Valley is a region of southeastern
California (
USA) located, in part, between the
Colorado River and the
Salton Sea, which is California's largest saltwater lake. Major population centers are
El Centro and
Brawley in California, and the twin border towns of
Calexico and
Mexicali. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "
Imperial County" are used synonymously.
Other regions in the vicinity of the Imperial Valley include the
Coachella Valley and the
Mexicali Valley (
Baja California,
Mexico), both of which lie within the Salton Sea watershed. In Mexico, this area of the
Baja California peninsula is referred to as the
Valle de Mexicali. Over the mountains to the west lies
San Diego, California, and to the east beyond the
Colorado River is southwestern
Arizona.
Although this region is a
desert, with high temperatures and low average rainfall of three inches (seventy-five mm) per year, the economy is heavily based on agriculture due to the availability of irrigation water, which is supplied wholly from the
Colorado River via the
All-American Canal.
Spanish explorer
Melchior Díaz was one of the first Europeans to visit the area in 1540, and probably sent at least scouting parties into the valley proper. Three centuries later, the northern half of the valley was annexed by the U.S., while the southern half remained under Mexican rule. Small scale settlement in natural acquifer areas occurred in the early 1800s (the present-day site of Mexicali), but most permanent settlement (Anglo Americans in the U.S. side, Mexicans in the other side) was after 1900.
A vast system of canals, check dams, and pipelines carry the water all over the valley, a system which forms the
Imperial Irrigation District, or IID. The water distribution system includes over of canal and with of pipeline. The number of canal and pipeline branches number roughly over a hundred.
Imported water and a long growing season allow two crop cycles each year, and the Imperial Valley is a major source of winter fruits and vegetables, cotton, and grain for U.S. and international markets. Alfalfa is another major crop produced in the Imperial Valley. The agricultural lands are served by a constructed agricultural drain system, which conveys surface runoff and subsurface drainage from fields to the Salton Sea, which is a designated repository for agricultural runoff.
A secondary industry of the Imperial Valley region is tourism. Many visitors come to the area to visit the
Salton Sea (California's largest inland lake, which serves as a dumpout point for the overflow and drainage from the IID canal system and ditch drainage) and the
Algodones Dunes. The
New River flows from the border city of
Mexicali northward to the Salton Sea.
Most of the Imperial Valley is in fact below sea level, including all of its major population centers. Due to this fact, a lot of dust and other airborne pollutants hover in the air and don't move out of the valley. The dust, pesticides, and "smog" from vehicles and burning fields causes an increased risk of asthma in the local residents. Commonly, winds blow from the western mountains; especially during the winter.
Both sides of the Imperial Valley share a common international bond of both Anglo-American and
Hispanic cultures. On the U.S. side, the majority of residents are of
Mexican American or
Latino heritage, while the Mexican side was greatly influenced by American culture by the U.S. for many decades. And the entire valley has multi-racial representation of Africans, Europeans, east and south Asians, and Native Americans.
Imperial Valley is crossed by
Interstate 8, and
State Routes 7,
78,
86,
98,
111 and
115, and
Mexican federal highways 2 and
5 with access to border entry ports to the US side.
Due to its desert environment and proximity to
Los Angeles, California, movies are sometimes filmed in the sand dunes outside the agricultural portions of the Imperial Valley. These have included
Return of the Jedi, Stargate, The Scorpion King, and
Into the Wild. Additionally, portions of the 2005 film
Jarhead were filmed here because of its similarity to the
desert terrain of
Iraq. Mountains that were visible in the background during filming were digitally removed during
postproduction.
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