It's not as bad as it sounds, due to circumstances. The Gila runs into the Colorado right near downtown Yuma. The water flow to Mexico is a treaty item so any excess from the Gila would simply flow to the Gulf of California. It was use it or lose it stuff.
It has made an incredible agriculture enterprise possible. All your winter lettuce and a large fraction of your cotton and citrus is from Arizona (and the Imperial Valley of Cali. That canal runs right out of down town Yuma).
Very interesting! That is good that it didn't have a huge impact on the environment. That is a really cool bridge. It would have been neat to see the wooden one before it washed out. One of them at least.