Sluice Gate at Tumbleweed Park - Chandler, Arizona
N 33° 16.378 W 111° 49.946
12S E 422477 N 3681858
A common sight in central Arizona, this is a typical sluice gate for the farmers.
Waymark Code: WMBGJV
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 05/19/2011
Views: 22
Maricopa County was once a large agricultural area known among other things for its cotton crop. Arizona is where Pima cotton originated. Goodyear Tire and Rubber used to have land near here to get the cotton for cording in their tires. Corn, wheat, alfalfa and other crops are also grown in central Arizona.
Since it is a desert, Arizonans, like the prehistoric Indians before, rely on canals to supply irrigation for its crops. A large system of canals and smaller irrigation ditches crisscross the region. As the cities in Maricopa County have grown, the farmland has been gradually disappearing and with it many of the irrigation ditches. We still rely on large canals to supply some of our urban water needs.
At this location there is still farmland adjacent to the city park. The irrigation ditch is nearly dry at the time of posting. This is not unusual. Water flows to certain areas at set schedules. As is typical of the irrigation ditches, it is lined with concrete. The sluice gate is metal. To get water from the irrigation ditch to the fields, farmers use large hoses jammed into the irrigation ditch through which water then flows into the field in intervals of every few feet along the ditch. It is a common sight around central Arizona.
Name of Waterway.: Unnamed irrigation ditch that is part of the local canal system
Roughly when was the Waterway created?: 50-80 years
Is this waterway working?: Working
What is the condition of the sluice gate?: Excellent working order
What is/was the water used for?: Irrigation
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Visit Instructions:
Please take photo of your visit.