The Southern Pacific Railroad tried to stop the flooding by dumping earth into the canal's headgates area, but the effort was not fast enough, and the river eroded deeper and deeper into the dry desert sand of the Imperial Valley. A large waterfall formed as a result and began cutting rapidly upstream along the path of the Alamo Canal that now was occupied by the Colorado. This waterfall was initially high, but grew to high before the flow through the breach was stopped. Originally, the waterfall was feared to recede upstream to the true main path of the Colorado, becoming up to high, when it would be practically impossible to fix the problem.