Blythe, California

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For the census-designated place, see East Blythe.

Blythe is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Palo Verde Valley, an agricultural area along the Colorado River. The population was 12,155 at the 2000 census.

Blythe is near the California/Arizona border. Among other purposes, it serves as a stopover city with full services for travelers between Phoenix, AZ and Los Angeles, CA.

Blythe Airport (FAA designator: BLH) is just east of town on Interstate 10 and has a 6,500 foot runway. Palo Verde Hospital is a General Acute Care Hospital in Blythe with Standby Emergency Services as of 2005. ^[1]

Blythe is often wrongly described as being a town in the Mojave Desert -- it is not. It is actually located in the Sonoran Desert which extends from Sonora Mexico, through the sourthern portions of Arizona and California.

State facilities in the town may include a State of California:

Resources Agency, Department of Fish and Game office at 150 S. Main Street.
Highway Patrol office at 430 S. Broadway Street.
Department of Motor Vehicles office at 430 S. Broadway Street.
Department of Food and Agriculture office.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Water transfers to urban areas
4 Trvia
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Blythe is located at 33°37′2″N, 114°35′21″W (33.617157, -114.589241)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.8 km² (25.0 mi²). 62.8 km² (24.2 mi²) of it is land and 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²) of it (3.12%) is water.

To the north along U.S. Route 95 are the communities of Lost Lake and Vidal. To the south on State Route 78 is the community of Ripley. East is Ehrenberg, Arizona.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 12,155 people, 4,103 households, and 2,974 families residing in the city. The population density was 193.6/km² (501.5/mi²). There were 4,891 housing units at an average density of 77.9/km² (201.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 55.41% White, 8.34% Black or African American, 1.43% Native American, 1.38% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 28.79% from other races, and 4.45% from two or more races. 45.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,103 households out of which 41.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,324, and the median income for a family was $40,783. Males had a median income of $32,342 versus $26,671 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,424. About 19.0% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.9% of those under age 18 and 21.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Water transfers to urban areas

In a 2005 agreement, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) negotiated with Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID) in Blythe to fallow, or idle, farm land for 35 years. The deal will transfer water that would have been used for farming in the area of Blythe, Ripley and Palo Verde to MWD.

According to a 1990 pilot study, water diversions and fallowed farm land reduced farming employment. The MWD provided $6 million in a development fund to reimburse the community for losses caused by shifting water to urban areas. ^[2]

California currently uses more than its allotted share of water from the Colorado River. The transfer agreement also seeks to address over-use of river water. It is partly designed to reduce overall diversions from the river.