<P> The Imperial Valley extends southward for 50 miles ( 80 km ) from the southern end of the Salton Sea into Mexico . Part of a trough stretching from the Coachella Valley to the Gulf of California , it is almost entirely below sea level -- 235 feet ( 72 m ) below at the edge of the Salton Sea . Its hot desert climate is characterized by daily temperature extremes . It was once part of the Gulf of California , from which it was cut off by the dam - like deposits of the Colorado River Delta Fan as it carved out the Grand Canyon . Bordered by sand dunes and barren mountains , it was uninhabited until 1901 , when the Imperial Canal was opened and diverted Colorado River water into the valley through Mexico . Flood - waters in 1905 -- 07 destroyed the irrigation channels and created the Salton Sea now filled by the New River and irrigation run - off . The rivers in the southern part of the Salton Sea river basin flow south to north . </P>
<P> The Imperial Valley extends southward for 50 miles ( 80 km ) from the southern end of the Salton Sea into Mexico . Part of a trough stretching from the Coachella Valley to the Gulf of California , it is almost entirely below sea level -- 235 feet ( 72 m ) below at the edge of the Salton Sea . Its hot desert climate is characterized by daily temperature extremes . It was once part of the Gulf of California , from which it was cut off by the dam - like deposits of the Colorado River Delta Fan as it carved out the Grand Canyon . Bordered by sand dunes and barren mountains , it was uninhabited until 1901 , when the Imperial Canal was opened and diverted Colorado River water into the valley through Mexico . Flood - waters in 1905 -- 07 destroyed the irrigation channels and created the Salton Sea now filled by the New River and irrigation run - off . The rivers in the southern part of the Salton Sea river basin flow south to north . </P>
where does the imperial valley get almost all of its water
where does the imperial valley get almost all of its water
Colorado River
Colorado River