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2020 Map of Mesa West

Name: 2020 Topographic Map of Mesa West
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2020
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2020

About this map

Mesa and the nearby siding at Edwards anchor this portion of the Columbia Basin, where the semi-arid landscape is defined by the heavy engineering of the Columbia Basin Project. The path of the Potholes Canal is central to the area's geography, feeding a network of irrigation that supports local agriculture across the desert terrain. Natural and man-made water features such as Worth Lake, Bailie Pond, and the Bernsens 810 Reservoir punctuate the grid of section roads, including Colonial Rd and Sheffield Rd.

Geological features like Esquatzel Coulee and Old Maid Coulee carve through the plateau, providing distinct relief against the surrounding farmland. The presence of Slinkard Airfield north of the main canal indicates the region's reliance on aerial application and private aviation in this sparsely settled farming district. This survey details a late-twentieth-century transformation of the Washington desert into a productive hydraulic landscape.