Government Highline Canal

The Bureau of Reclamation is the branch of the federal government charged with constructing large irrigation projects, like dams and canals, that made western settlement possible.

The Government Highline Canal was started in 1902 and completed in 1917, after many delays caused by private landowners whose land needed to be condemned to make the project possible.

The project consists of a single, 14 foot high, concrete diversion weir on the Colorado River with a movable crest that provides water to four canals that stretch over 90 miles through the region.

In 1909, a U.S. Army Board of Engineers met and determined the project was feasible, and the U.S. Government allocated $1.5 million - equivalent to over $38 million today - to construct the Highline Canal system and its bank maintenance roads.

This magnificent irrigation project, funded by public monies, made the area's famous agricultural industries, like fruit and wine, possible, and made it possible for private farmland owners to make a living off of their land for many generations.