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1992 Map of Iris

Name: 1992 Topographic Map of Iris
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1995
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1995

About this map

East Mesa defines the arid character of this Imperial County landscape, where the transition from desert upland to irrigated agricultural land is marked by an extensive grid of water infrastructure. The Coachella Canal and East Highline Canal serve as the primary arteries for this transformation, supported by a dense network of named laterals and drains including Q Lateral, J Drain, and E Drain. This rigid hydraulic engineering illustrates the mid-20th-century effort to reclaim the Colorado Desert for production.

In the northeast, the terrain shifts abruptly as it enters the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, a vast military exclusion zone. Near the center of the sheet, the modern industrial presence of Calipatria State Prison sits in stark contrast to the small, older railway-associated points of Iris and Flowing Wells. This 1990s revision captures a unique intersection of military training grounds, high-security detention facilities, and the intensive water management required to sustain life in the low desert.