Description

The All-American Canal is an 80-mile (130 km) long aqueduct, located in southeastern California. It conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley and to nine cities. It is the Imperial Valley's only water source, and replaced the Alamo Canal, which was located mostly in Mexico. The Imperial Dam, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Yuma, Arizona on the Colorado River, diverts water into the All-American Canal, which runs to just west of Calexico, California before its last branch heads mostly north into the Imperial Valley. Six smaller canals branching off the All American Canal move water into the Imperial Valley. These canal systems irrigate up to 630,000 acres (250,000 ha) of good crop land and have made possible a greatly increased crop yield in this area, originally one of the driest on earth. It is the largest irrigation canal in the world,carrying a maximum of 26,155 cubic feet per second (740.6 m3/s). Agricultural runoff from the All American Canal drains into the Salton Sea.

The All American Canal runs parallel to the Mexico California border for several miles. With over 500 people having drowned in the canal since 1997, it has been called "the Most Dangerous Body of Water in the U.S."

--from Wikipedia

See documentary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diX9caAZI90&feature=player_embedded