Cogjm.Brochure Giant Co Rv.Pdf (1.317Mb)

OVERVIEW From its headwaters high in Colorado's Rocky Mountains to the point in Mexico where it empties into the Gulf of Cali fornia, the Colorado River is a diverse area of rugged moun tains, deep canyons, river val leys, rolling ridges, flat-topped mesas and harsh deserts. Outing the year, tempera tures may vary from minus 60 degrees in the high Rockies to more than 125 degrees in the basin's desert valleys. Annual precipitation ranges from more than 50 inches at higher eleva tions to as low as four inches in arid areas. The Colorado and its tribu taries drain nearly a quarter of a million square miles in the seven states within the Colorado River Basin - Wyoming, Col orado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Califor nia. As it wends its 1400-mile way south, then west, then south again, the Colorado helps meet the water and power needs of more than 20 million people within the basin states and ad joining areas - many, many more when you add those south of the border in Mexico. But it was not always so. THE UNRULY RIVER Not too many years ago, the battle among the seven states river could be a rampaging over apportionments of the giant. A spawner of killer, de river began, disaster struck. structive floods in the spring, a In 1905-06, the Colorado placid trickle of water in the burst through its confines, ran hot, dry months of summer. unchecked along an old There were early diversions rivetbed into the Imperial Val for irrigation from the Colorado ley and, in a wild flood scene, and its tributaries-in 1854 by created the Salton Sea. Mormon settlers of the Green In 1913, the floods hit the River in southwestern Wyo Yuma Valley In 1922, it was ming, in 1887 by Samuel Blythe Palo Verde Valley's turn. in California's Palo Verde Valley; in the 1880s by farmers in the Uncompahgre Valley near Montrose, Colorado, in the 1890s in Arizona's Yuma Valley; in 1901 in California's Imperial Valley and in 1910 by farmers in Arizona's Salt River Valley By 1910, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had built the Un com pahgre Tunnel in Col orado, Strawberry Tunnel in Utah, Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona and Laguna Dam on the Arizona-California border. Other than Laguna, these BurRec developments were all on tributaries and neither they nor Laguna con trolled the Colorado itself. Even before the decades-long TAMING A NOBLE RIVER FortunatelY, the states kept talking and finally hammered out the 1922 Colorado River Compact that apportioned the beneficial consumptive use of seven and a half million acre feet* each to the upper and lower basins. In addition, at the insistence of the Arizona dele gation, the lower basin was to be allowed to increase its use of water each year by one million acre-feet. The dividing point between the basins is Lee Ferry below Page, Arizona. The upper basin states are Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, and the lower basin, Arizona, Nevada and California. Agreement on the compact was necessary before legislation to harness the river could be in troduced. After considerable maneu vering in the halls of Congress, legislation was passed that cleared the way for building additional legislation has made Hoover Dam Boulder (now Hoover) Dam. possible Flaming Gorge Dam Completed in 1935, the dam on the Green River, Navajo dams on the main stem of the was the first giant step toward Dam on the San Juan , Colorado. taming the rampaging river Crystal-Morrow Point and Blue Today the Colorado is prob In the years that followed, Mesa dams on the Gunnison, ably the most controll ed, most and Glen Canyon (which form s litigated river in the world. • An acrt-foo t co vers an acrt of land to a Lake Powell ), Davis and Parker d,pth of o"' foo t-appro xim atdy 326,000 gallo"s. RIVER IN HARNESS Together the reservoirs have hours of fishing, boating and a combined active storage ca water skiing in spectacular can pacity of about 60 million acre yon land surroundings. Lake feet, providing water for people shores abound with camping and industry in the cities, for facilities Long stretches of river growing hay to feed cattle on between reservoirs offer white the ranches and for nourishing water rafting thrills. fruits and vegetables on the Hatcheries and wildlife farms . All creating jobs that management programs contribute to the nation's econ throughout the basin assure an omy abundance of fish and fowl. The list of benefits goes on. The compact recognized Reservoirs on ~ -system that in the future a specific right provide essential flood control. for Mexico might need to be Generating stations produce spelled out. In 1944, the United pollution-free hydro power States signed a water treaty with which provides revenue to help Mexico in which the U .S. repay the cost of the various agreed to deliver to Mexico an projects. annual quantity of one and a Then there are the endless half million acre-feet. Compact negotiators had es Lake .Powell timated the flow of the river to be at least 17 million acre-feet a This is the major and over year. However, today the rec riding problem on the Colo ords indicate a dependable flow rado. But it doesn't end there. that ranges between 13 and 15 For the potential demands on million. And the sum of the ap the river exceeding its depend portionments made in the com able supply lead to yet other pact and the Mexican treaty problems-problems concern substantially exceeds the flow of ing water projects, water qual the river most years. ity and environmental factors. WYOMING GREEN RIVER CHEYENNEe NEVADA Utah Lake e DENVER e CARSON CITY UTAH LORADO e PUEBLO e SANTA FE NEW MEXICO eELPASO WORKING TOGETHER SALINITY For a number of years, the states in the upper and lower basins strongly disagreed on the storage and release of water from the upper basin to the lower. This disagreement was accentuated by the passage of the Colorado River Storage Project Act in 1956 which au thorized construction of major reservoirs in the upper basin. Lake Powell, the largest of these, for instance, has a usable storage capacity of 25 million acre-feet. Recognition of this problem resulted in the Colorado River It's a naturally salty river; the orado River Basin Salinity Con Basin Project Act of 1968. The Colorado. Perhaps the most so trol Act, the first step in its Secretary of the Interior was in the entire United States. It's implementation. Congressmen directed to consult with repre possible the Arkansas or the and all 14 senators from the sentatives of the seven basin Pecos or the Rio Grande might seven basin states sponsored the states and to publish criteria for give it a run for its money But bills authorizing the first three coordinated long-range opera those rivers don't provide water specific control projects. tion of the reservoirs. The re for people in seven states and The long-range goal of the sulting regulations are flexible the Republic of Mexico. The program is to remove more than in nature and require the secre Colorado does. two million tons of salt a year. tary to make numerous studies And that's why salinity is It's an ongoing major prob and consider various items in such a problem-salinity con lem of Colorado River water developing an annual plan of tributed by nature and salinity users. And one that will take a operation. Each year the secre contributed by man, the re long time more to solve. But tary submits drafts of the plan sponsibility is just about equal. thanks to the combined efforts for review within the seven This problem was the basis of all seven states and the fed states prior to its adoption. for the Colorado River Water eral government, the goal gets a Quality Control Program and little closer each year. for.the . subsequent 1974 Col- ENERGY Even with energy conserva tion and utilization of exotic sources, national supply prob lems will be enormous by the turn of the century Rich deposits of potential energy mineral resources are found in the basin states of Col orado, Utah and Wyoming: 42 percent of the nation's bitumi nous and lignite coal, 100 per cent of the nation's recoverable oil shale and 95 percent of the nation's uranium. Coal Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel. A conservative esti mate of the amount of coal within the boundaries of the basin is 100 billion tons. Demand for western coal will continue to grow because of the energy shortage, because of the scarcity of oil and natural gas and because of environmen tal restrictions of other energy developments. Fortunately, the amount of water required for the coal min ing operations themselves is minimal, since it is used only for dust control, fire protection and coal washing. But larger shale reserves are found in the of the same size. Also, water is upper basin states, the richest used in mining and processing deposits being located in Col fuel , particularly uranium. orado. Although estimates vary on Hydro the amount of water required There's boundless energy in for shale oil production, one in falling water. Superstructures dicates that it takes about 8000 capture and utilize the river's acre-feet of water a year to pro potential throughout the Col duce 50, 000 barrels of shale oil orado River Basin .

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