SPACEPHOTOS

Imperial Valley, California, USA April 1997 The border between the United States and Mexico consists of intensively cultivated field patterns. This area is the Imperial Valley of south central California. Although the extensive array of large productive fields is located in a desert environment, the image indicates where effective irrigation (from water provided by the Colorado River) has turned this normally arid landscape into a highly productive agricultural region. The only disruptions to the cultivated landscape are a few cities on the U. S. side of the border (El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, and Holtville) and the much large city of Mexicali on the Mexican side of the border. Notice that there is an obvious difference in land management and ownership on the two sides of the border. Several canals, mainly the Westside Main Canal (white, winding, feature), are used for irrigation purposes and can be traced across the plain of the Imperial Valley. The greenish looking feature in the southwest corner of the image is the northern tip of Laguna Salada