Colorado River | UPSC

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.

Colorado River | UPSC

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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