A Desert Oasis in Western Imperial Valley
Do you know where your water comes from? For most of the Imperial Valley, the answer is easy. The Colorado River supplies water to irrigation canals for crops and livestock, and to homes and businesses for drinking water and washing. However, on the western side of Imperial Valley, communities like Ocotillo, No Mirage, Yuha Estates, and Coyote Wells get their water from a di erent source altogether, one that lies in the ground below. Known as the Ocotillo-Coyote Wells Aquifer, the presence and importance of this groundwater has long been known and utilized by the inhabitants and people traveling through the Valley.
What is an Aquifer?
Did you know that some rocks hold water just like your kitchen sponge? These water-soaked rocks are in the ground right beneath your feet! Groundwater starts its life on the surface. When it rains, the water moves through the soil into permeable rocks and is stored as groundwater. An Aquifer is a collection of porous underground rocks that allow water to slowly move through. Digging or drilling wells through soil and rock into aquifers allows people to access that stored groundwater. Aquifers are important because for many people they are the main way to get clean, usable water.
Because they are underground, you can’t see aquifers, and their boundaries are not well defined. But some aquifers can be massive, extending across multiple states, like the Ogallala Aquifer, which lies under parts of eight states in the Midwest! Because of their porous nature, the care, management, and preservation of these natural repositories is an ongoing concern. If properly maintained and responsibly used, an aquifer can be a continuous source of water for its communities; however, misuse can result in its contamination, depletion, or even collapse.
Well, Well, Well
The presence of groundwater in the Imperial Valley was first known by the Indigenous Peoples of the Valley. In 1774 Juan Bautista de Anza led a scouting expedition to open a land route from Sonora, Mexico, to Alta California. Following the trail systems of the Indigenous Peoples of the Valley, the expedition traveled west of Mt. Signal through the Yuha Desert. It was the Kumeyaay who shared the location of a well to de Anza’s scouting expedition. Now known as Yuha Well or Santa Rosa De Las Lajas (Flat Rocks), it was the expedition’s first good watering spot beyond the Colorado River. Returning to the Valley again in 1775, with a group of settlers heading to San Francisco, de-Anza’s colonizing expedition used the same well on their way through the desert.
Another watering source in the Valley was near a Kumeyaay village. It was located between two lagunas on the New River and later became known as Indian Wells. In 1857 it was a stop of the San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line (better known as the “Jackass Mail”), the first overland mail route to San Diego from the east. A station was built at the well in 1858 by the Butterfield Overland Stage Coach line. Unfortunately, the site of Indian Wells was destroyed by the 1905 flood of the New River, caused by the overflowing of the Colorado River, which created the Salton Sea.
When the San Diego & Arizona Railroad was built through the Imperial Valley in 1919, Coyote Wells was developed as a water station where steam trains could stop to replenish water. Coyote Wells became a small community and when US highway 80 was built nearby, it became a service station and refreshment stand.
Ocotillo-Coyote Wells Aquifer
Because of the availability of water from the Colorado River in eastern Imperial Valley, utilization of groundwater as a source of water supply is only really feasible in the western part of the Valley. The Ocotillo-Coyote Wells Aquifer underlies about 100 square miles across eastern San Diego County and southwestern Imperial County. It is a sole source aquifer, which means that it is the only or primary source of drinking water for Ocotillo, No Mirage, Yuha Estates, and Coyote Wells.
Water is as vital to our Valley’s inhabitants now as it was in the past. The water beneath our feet is a valuable resource and must be protected. The IVDM is hosting its 2nd annual Ocotillo Water Day to celebrate and explore the importance of water in the Imperial Valley. This is taking place today, Saturday, August 17 from 10:30 to 3:30pm at the Museum.
The Imperial Valley Desert Museum is located in Ocotillo, California. It is open Wednesdays through Sundays 10am4pm.