Colorado River | UPSC | Why In The News ?
For the first time, the federal government in the US declared a water shortage for the Colorado River basin due to a historic drought, which will lead to water cuts in some southwestern states starting October 2021.
Source : Indian Express
Which states will be impacted by the water cuts and by how much?
- The water cuts will mainly affect residents of Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.
- Arizona will experience an 18 percent cut in its annual water apportionment, while Nevada will experience a 7 percent cut.
About Colorado River :
- The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
- The 2,330 km river starts at La Poudre Pass in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado in Grand Lake, Colorado.
- It flows through the southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border.
- After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora.
- In the Lower Basin, the Hoover Dam controls floods and regulates water delivery and storage.
- Apart from the Hoover dam, there is the Davis Dam, Parker Dam and the Imperial Dam that regulate the release of water from the Hoover Dam.
- It is often referred to as the “Lifeline of the Southwest.”
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The River System is Joined by Other Streams Also :
- The Virgin, Kanab, Paria, Escalante, Dirty Devil, and Green rivers from the west.
- The Little Colorado, San Juan, Dolores, and Gunnison from the east.
The River Basin is divided into Two Basins :
- Upper (Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and northern Arizona)
- Lower Basins (parts of Nevada, Arizona, California, southwestern Utah and western New Mexico).
Dams Located On Colorado Are :
- The Hoover Dam
- The Davis Dam
- Parker Dam
- The Imperial Dam
