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Reclamation. In 1961, for 77,525 acres, 935,500 acre-feet of water was diverted and 555,100 acre-feet returned to the river. F. Colorado River Indian Reservation The first attempt to practice irrigation was in 1870, but failure of the headgate structure resulted in flooding of a large section of the valley and the formation of several deep washes. Later efforts to supply irrigation water included the drilling of wells and the construction of water wheels. Subsequent efforts were made with well pumping by use of windmills and even horsepower rigs. The first successful irrigation supply installation was a steam-powered rig, which in 1914 delivered water to about 587 acres of land. By 1920 irrigation had resulted in loss of much of the developed land, owing to drainage problems. By 1936 the distribution system consisted of about 60 miles of canals and the drainage system of about 15 miles of open drains. It was possible to serve a total of 7,500 acres, of which only about 5,000 acres were actually irrigated. The Bureau of Reclamation was authorized to design and construct a new dam and diversion structure. Construction was completed and the first water diverted in June 1942. At the present time there are about 30,000 acres irrigated, and adequate drainage for this area has been provided. G. Mexico The early history of Mexican irrigation from the Colorado River is closely related to initial irrigation development in the Imperial Valley of California. On April 26, 1896, the California Development Company was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey for the irrigation 13Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 9,061,376 byte