Theodore Worley, Jr., age 10, of Charlotte, North Carolina, for his question:

What is the story, of the Imperial Valley?

For countless ages the busy Colorado River flowed freely downhill to join the Gulf of California. There it dumped its tons of muddy silt and gradually built a delta that became a dry desert below sea level. At that time, this arid Imperial Valley looked like a most unlikely place to start a Green Revolution. But this land was taken from the sea bed and mixed with muddy deposits from the river delta. The soil was rich with plant growing minerals and organic materials. All it needed was water    but rains in this desert regions are rare and scanty.

However, this problem was solved with a network of irrigation canals. The water came 80 miles from the river that built the rich, thirsty soil and transformed half a million acres of desert into one of America's richest farm areas. The Imperial Valley lies in southern California along the Mexican border. Here the years round climate is warm and sunny. :In summer the farmers harvest such crops as cotton and sugar beets. In winter they grow melons and a multitude of other surprises.