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2021 Map of Parker SW

Name: 2021 Topographic Map of Parker SW
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2021
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2021

About this map

The Colorado River defines this arid borderland where California meets Arizona, carving a path between the Riverside Mountains and the agricultural expanses of the Parker Valley. This 2021 survey illustrates a highly engineered landscape of water management, where the Main Canal, Main Drain, and numerous laterals like Lateral Twenty-seven R divert river water into the valley's grid. These irrigation works support the settlements of Vidal Valley and Gravel Hill-Bend, contrasting the dry Vidal Wash and Lost Lake areas to the west.

The human geography is marked by a strict Cartesian grid of roads, including Mohave Rd and a series of numbered avenues, reflecting the region's development within the Colorado River Indian Reservation. Natural features like Deer Island and the Twelvemile Slough persist along the river's edge, highlighting the original wetlands that existed before the implementation of the massive irrigation network that now dominates the valley floor.