The Colorado River
The Colorado River is a single of the most crucial rivers in the United States. It is the most significant and most relied on river in the southwestern aspect of the United States. It is a crucial resource of h2o for agriculture, consuming water, hydroelectric strength, and recreation for millions of residents in the mostly desert American southwest.
The Colorado River begins at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains in the northern portion of the state of Colorado. In the vicinity of its resource at Grand Lake is its 1st dam, 1 of dozens it encounters as it makes its way in direction of the Gulf of California in Mexico. The river flows via or adjacent to five says: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Streams and rivers from 7 says feed the Colorado, the largest rivers becoming the Gunnison, Green, San Juan, Gila, and the Virgin.
The Colorado River is approximately 1,450 miles lengthy. Nevertheless its course is interrupted in many locations by big reservoirs these as Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and Lake Mohave. Lake Mead is 110 miles in length and was shaped by the impounding of the Colorado by the Hoover Dam. It is the most significant reservoir in the United Says. The Colorado is most famously known for carving the breathtaking Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Grand Canyon, which is visited by more than five million men and women annually, is thought to be one particular of the 7 wonders of the all-natural entire world.
The Colorado is so intensely utilized that by the time it reaches its lower course near Yuma, Arizona, it no longer consistently reaches the Gulf of California in Mexico. This has lead to substantial habitat destruction in the Colorado River delta place in Mexico. Agricultural use drains the huge vast majority of the Colorado’s water. There are fourteen native species of fish in the Colorado. Some of the fish are now threatened species.