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14-September-2008 18:38:45 - River This article is about the Colorado River which flows through the Grand Canyon. For other rivers named Colorado, see Colorado River disambiguation. Colorado River Map of the Colorado Watershed Map of the Colorado Watershed Mouth Gulf of California Basin countries United States, Mexico Length 2,330 km 1,450 mi Source elevation ~2700 m ~9000 ft Avg. discharge 620 m³/s 22,000 ft³/s1 Basin area 629,100 km² 242,900 mi² Downstream view of the Colorado River at river mile 174 in the Grand Canyon Downstream view of the Colorado River at river mile 174 in the Grand Canyon Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from Desert View Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from Desert View The Colorado River from Laughlin The Colorado River from Laughlin Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona A remote stretch of the Colorado River from the Escalante Route in the Grand Canyon A remote stretch of the Colorado River from the Escalante Route in the Grand Canyon The Colorado River 'Aha Kwahwat in Mojave2 is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately 1,450 mi 2,330 km long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The natural course of the river flows into the Gulf of California, but the heavy use of the river as an irrigation source for the Imperial Valley has desiccated the lower course of the river in Mexico such that it no longer consistently reaches the sea. The Colorado River drains 242,900 sq mi 629,100 km². Total flows of the river range from 4000 cubic feet per second 113 m³/s in droughts to 1,000,000 ft³/s 28,000 m³/s in severe floods. With the construction of massive power dams on the lower course of the river, floods of over 70,000 ft³/s 2000 m³/s are rare. The mean flow of the total river before diversion is 22,000 ft³/s 620 m³/s. Historically the flow was much higher before water usage began in the basin. Contents 1 History 1.1 Grand River 2 Course 2.1 Prehistory 2.2 Today 2.3 A Warming Climate 3 Elevation summary 4 Engineering 4.1 Moab uranium tailings 5 Wildlife 6 Fish Species 7 See also 8 References 9 External links History Grand River Until 1921, the section of the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to its confluence with the Green River in Utah was known as the Grand River,3 the origin of several now orphaned names including Grand Lake, Grand Valley, Grand Junction, Grand County, Colorado, and Grand County, Utah. Colorado U.S. Representative Edward T. Taylor petitioned the Congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce to rename the Grand River as the Colorado River. On July 25, 1921 the name change was made official in House Joint Resolution 460 of the 66th Congress, over the objections of representatives from Wyoming and Utah and the United States Geological Survey which noted that the drainage basin of the Green River was more than 70% more extensive than that of the Grand River4, although the Grand carried a slightly higher volume of water at its confluence with the Green. Course Prehistory It is the opinion of some geologists that before the Gulf of California came into being some 7-8 million years ago, the Colorado River initially had its outlet somewhere along what is now the California coast. They believe that the massive Monterey Submarine Canyon under Monterey Bay along with the associated undersea sedimentary fan may be remnants of the Colorado's ancient outlet. 5 The canyon has moved north to its current location by the action of the San Andreas Fault and would have been approximately where Santa Barbara is located when both the San Andreas Fault and the Gulf of California came into being. Today The Colorado River's source is La Poudre Pass Lake, located high in Rocky Mountain National Park, just west of the Continental Divide. Below Rocky Mountain National Park, the river flows through the Kawuneeche Valley and then flows through Grand Lake, the largest natural body of water in Colorado, before being dammed to create Shadow Mountain Reservoir. The river then flows into Lake Granby, another reservoir, and finally begins its journey to the Gulf of California where U.S. Highway 40 roughly parallels the river to the town of Kremmling, where it enters Gore Canyon. Most of the river's tributaries within Colorado are small. However there are exceptions, such as the Gunnison and Roaring Fork Rivers, in which massive amounts of water flow. About a hundred miles later it meets the Eagle River in the town of Dotsero, Colorado and where I-70 parallels the river through Glenwood Canyon. The river then passes through the city of Glenwood Springs where it is joined by the swift flowing Roaring Fork River. West of Glenwood Springs, the Colorado runs through the Grand Valley and is joined by the Gunnison River in Grand Junction. From there it flows westward to the Utah border and Westwater Canyon. The Colorado here ranges from 200 to 1200 feet wide 60 to 370 m and from 6 to 30 feet in depth 2 to 9 m with occasional deeper areas. The river turns southwest near Fruita, Colorado and is joined by the Dolores River soon after entering Utah. It partially forms the southern border of Arches National Park near Moab, Utah and then passes by Dead Horse Point State Park and through Canyonlands National Park where it is met by one of its primary tributaries, the Green River. The Colorado then flows into Lake Powell, formed by the Glen Canyon Dam. Below the dam, water released from the bottom of Lake Powell makes the river clear, clean, and cold. Just south of the town of Page, Arizona, the river forms the dramatic Horseshoe Bend, then at Lees Ferry is joined by another tributary, the warm, shallow, muddy Paria River, and begins its course through Marble Canyon. Here, the Colorado ranges from 175 to 700 feet in width 53 to 213 m and 9 to 130 feet in depth 3 to 40 m. At the southern end of Marble Canyon, the river is joined by another tributary, the Little Colorado, and the river then turns abruptly west directly across the folds and fault line of the plateau, through the Grand Canyon, which is 217 miles long 349 km and from 4 to 20 miles wide 6 to 30 km between the upper cliffs. The walls, 4000 to 6000 feet high 1200 to 1800 m, drop in successive escarpments of 500 to 1600 feet 150 to 490 m, banded in splendid colours toward the narrow gorge of the present river. Below the confluence of the Virgin River of Nevada the Colorado abruptly turns southward. Hoover Dam, built during the Great Depression, forms Lake Mead, a popular recreation site as well as the supplier of most of the water for the city of Las Vegas. From Hoover Dam, the river flows south and forms part of the boundary between Arizona and Nevada and between Arizona and California. Along the California-Arizona reach of the river, four additional dams are operated to divert water for agricultural irrigation and for recreation. Lake Mohave, formed by Davis Dam, lies in the southern portion of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Lake Havasu, formed by Parker Dam, provides recreation as well as the home of the retired New London Bridge. The two remaining dams supply irrigation water: Palo Verde Diversion Dam and Imperial Dam. Here, the Colorado River ranges in width from 700 to 2500 feet 210 to 760 m and from 8 to 100 feet in depth 2 to 30 m. Below the Black Canyon the river lessens in gradient and in its lower course flows in a broad sedimentary valley's distinct estuarine plain upriver from Yuma, where it is joined by the Gila River. The channel through much of this region is bedded in a dike-like embankment lying above the floodplain over which the escaping water spills in time of flood. This dike cuts off the flow of the river to the remarkable low area in southern California known as the Salton Sink, Coachella Valley, or Imperial Valley. The Salton Sink is located below sea level; therefore, the descent from the river near Yuma is very much greater than the descent from Yuma to the gulf. The lower course of the river, which forms the border between Baja California and Sonora, is essentially a trickle or a dry stream today due to use of the river as Imperial Valley's irrigation source. Prior to the mid 20th century, the Colorado River Delta provided a rich estuarine marshland that is now essentially desiccated, but nonetheless is an important ecological resource. A Warming Climate According to the Natural Resources Defense Council the Colorado River Basin, which stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, is at the center of hotter climate changes in the Western United States. Since the 1970s, rising temperatures have contributed to earlier snowmelts, and the basin has warmed more than any other area in the contiguous United States. As a result, the volume of water in the basin is decreasing. The years 2000 to 2004 were the only five consecutive years in recorded history with water flow below average. Lake Powell, one of the basin's main reservoirs, is only 45 percent full.6 Elevation summary Approximate heights above sea level at several key locations: Feet Meters Location 9000 2750 Colorado headwaters Rocky Mountains 6100 1850 midway to Colorado-Utah border 4300 1300 Colorado-Utah border 3850 1170 midway to Utah-Arizona border 3700 1130 Utah-Arizona border Wahweap Bay 3000 900 midway to Grand Canyon Rider Point 2800 850 Grand Canyon North Rim 2500 760 Grand Canyon South Rim 1200 365 Lake Mead above Hoover Dam 600 183 below Hoover Dam 485 150 California-Nevada-Arizona border 100 30 California-Arizona-Mexico border Note that the significant difference between the present height of the rim of the Grand Canyon about 8000 ft; 2440 m and the levels at which the river enters/exits it gives rise to the geologic theory that its upheaval must have begun around the same time the river began flowing through it and eroding it since rivers do not run uphill, it would have otherwise followed some other path around the upheaval. Estimates for the beginning of this erosion/upheaval process range from 5 to 70 million years ago. Engineering Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell In the autumn of 1904, the river's waters escaped into a diversion canal a few miles below Yuma, Arizona, creating the New River and Alamo River. The rivers re-created in California a great inland sea in an area that it had frequently inundated before, for example, in 1884 and 1891, when it had for a time practically abandoned its former course through Mexican territory to the Sea of Cortez. However, it was effectively dammed in the early part of 1907 and returned to its normal course, from which, however, there was still much leakage to the Salton Sea. In July 1907, the permanent dam was completed. From the Black Canyon towards the sea the Colorado normally flows through a desert-like basin. From the Hoover Dam From the Hoover Dam The Colorado River is a major and in some cases life-sustaining source of water for irrigation, drinking, and other uses by people living in the arid American southwest. Allocation of the river's water is governed by the Colorado River Compact. Several dams have been built along the Colorado River, beginning with Glen Canyon Dam near the Utah-Arizona border. Other dams include Hoover Dam, Parker Dam, Davis Dam, Palo Verde Diversion Dam, and Imperial Dam. Since the completion of the dams, the majority of the river in normal hydrologic years is diverted for agricultural and municipal water supply. The Colorado's last drops evaporate in the Sonoran Desert, miles before the river reaches the Gulf of California. Almost 90% of all water diverted from the river is for irrigation purposes. The All-American Canal is the largest irrigation canal in the world and carries a volume of water from 15,000 to 30,000 ft³/s 420 to 850 m³/s, making it larger in volume than New York's Hudson River. The canal's waters are used to irrigate the parched but fertile Imperial Valley, where several years can pass between measurable rainfalls. Hydrology transport models are used to assess management of the river's flow and water quality. Hoover Dam originally Boulder Dam, and the first dam of its type was completed in 1936. Its impoundment of the river in the Mojave Desert creates Lake Mead, which provides water for irrigation and the generation of hydroelectric power. Several cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Bernardino, San Diego, Phoenix, and Tucson have aqueducts leading all the way back to the Colorado River. One such aqueduct is the Central Arizona Project CAP canal, which was begun in the 1970s and finished in the 1990s. The canal begins at Parker Dam and runs all the way to Phoenix and then Tucson to supplement those cities' water needs. The lower Colorado is navigable by moderate to large sized craft. The lower river from Davis Dam to Yuma is navigable by large paddlewheel boats and river barges, but commercial navigation on the river is unimportant because the river is cut off from the sea, making other means of transportation more efficient in the region. Before the railroads arrived, the lower Colorado River from the Sea to near present day Laughlin, Nevada was an important means of transportation via large steamers. Most of the rest of the river, excluding the rapids in the canyons, is navigable by small to moderate sized river craft and power boats. Colorado River Colorado River Moab uranium tailings Main article: Moab Tailings Atlas Corporation operated a uranium mine in the area of Moab, Utah, just under three miles from downtown Moab. As a byproduct of mining activities, a ten-million-ton pile of radioactive tailings exists. The pile is located about 700-800 feet from the Colorado River. Although no pollution has been detected, proximity of the material to the watershed has been a concern. The Senate has authorized the U.S. Department of Energy to budget $22.8 million in 2007 to begin the project of moving the uranium tailings farther from the river. The plan is to move the pile 15-20 miles north and away from the river. The project is expected to be completed by 2017. Wildlife The Colorado River basin is home to fourteen native species of fish. Four are endemic and endangered: Colorado pikeminnow formerly Colorado squawfish, razorback sucker, bonytail chub, and humpback chub. The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program is a controversial effort by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Colorado Division Of Wildlife, and the Utah Department Of Wildlife to recover these endangered fish. Fish Species Rainbow Largemouth Bass Striped Bass Crappie Sunfish Catfish Channel Carp See also Colorado River Delta Colorado River Compact List of Colorado River rapids and features List of flora of the Lower Colorado River Valley References The Colorado River in James M. Robb Colorado River State Park as the Morning Sun rises The Colorado River in James M. Robb Colorado River State Park as the Morning Sun rises ^ Largest Rivers in the United States, USGS; retrieved April 22, 2007. ^ Munro, P et al.. A Mojave Dictionary Los Angeles: UCLA, 1992 ^ Early explorers identified the Gunnison River in Colorado as the headwaters of the Colorado River. The Grand River in Colorado was later identified as the headwaters of the river. Finally in 1916, E.C. LaRue, Chief Hydrologist of the United States Geological Survey, identified the Green River in Wyoming as the actual headwaters of the Colorado River. ^ Many years ago, the Colorado River was just Grand, retrieved January 5, 2008. ^ The Impact of Tectonic Activity in the Development of Monterey Submarine Canyon ^ Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate. Natural Resource Defense Council. Mar. 2008. 25 July 2008 http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/west/fwest.pdf. This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh ion, a publication now in the public domain. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Colorado River Federal Department of Energy site on uranium mine tailing site. State of Utah site on uranium mine tailings. Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law Peace Palace Library Drought Watch Campaign - map of the Colorado River system showing the fill levels of major reservoirs. Last updated July 2004. Arizona Boating Locations Facilities Map Arizona Fishing Locations Map Where to Fish in Arizona Species Information v d e Colorado River system Dams and aqueducts see US Bureau of Reclamation Shadow Mountain Dam Granby Dam Glen Canyon Dam Hoover Dam Davis Dam Parker Dam Palo Verde Diversion Dam Imperial Dam Laguna Dam Morelos Dam Colorado River Aqueduct San Diego Aqueduct Central Arizona Project All-American Canal Coachella Canal Redwall Dam Canyons Byers Canyon Gore Canyon Red Gorge Glenwood Canyon De Beque Canyon Horsethief Canyon Ruby Canyon Westwater Canyon Cataract Canyon Narrow Canyon Glen Canyon Grand Canyon Marble Canyon Granite Gorge Middle Granite Gorge Lower Granite Gorge Grand Wash Canyon Iceberg Canyon Virgin Canyon Boulder Canyon Black Canyon Pyramid Canyon Mohave Canyon Natural features Rocky Mountains Colorado River Basin Grand Lake Sonoran Desert Mojave Desert Imperial Valley Colorado Plateau New River Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez Salton Sea Tributaries Blue River Dirty Devil River Dolores River Escalante River Eagle River Fraser River Gila River Green River Gunnison River Kanab Creek Little Colorado River Paria River Roaring Fork River San Juan River Virgin River Williams Fork River Major reservoirs Fontenelle Reservoir Flaming Gorge Reservoir Taylor Park Reservoir Navajo Reservoir Lake Powell Lake Mead Lake Mohave Lake Havasu Dependent states Arizona California Colorado Nevada New Mexico Utah Wyoming See: Colorado River Compact Designated areas Arches National Park Canyonlands National Park Colorado National Monument Dead Horse Point State Park Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Grand Canyon National Park Lake Mead National Recreation Area Rocky Mountain National Park v d e Flag of the United States United States topics History Timeline Pre-Columbian · Colonial era Thirteen Colonies · Declaration of Independence · American Revolution · Westward expansion · Civil War · Reconstruction · World War I · Great Depression · World War II · Cold War 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policy / Prohibition · Energy policy · Environmentalism · Gun politics · Health care reform · Human rights · Immigration United States-Mexico barrier · Third Border Initiative · Obesity · Racism · Same-sex marriage Portal Retrieved from http://en..org/wiki/Colorado_River Categories: Colorado River | Colorado Plateau | Freshwater ecoregions | Rivers of Colorado | Rivers of Utah | Rivers of Arizona | Rivers of Nevada | Rivers of California | International rivers Views Article Discussion this page History Personal tools Log in / create account Navigation Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Search Go Search Interaction Community portal Recent changes Contact Donate to Help Toolbox What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Printable version Permanent link Cite this page Languages العربية Català Česky Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara Ù?ارسی Français í•œêµì–´ हिनà¥?दी Italiano עברית Latina Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar मराठी 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