WSP09378

• File Number: 8200.200
• Description: Colorado River - Basin Hydrology
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 4/9/1993
• Author: CRWUA
• Title: Colorado River Profiles
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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In the uppcrhneiu

Colorado River dmina!?e:
MOfEdhan 108,000 squarf-'
miles

Major lributa'ries.:
Green. Gunnjson and San
Juan dvers

CQlorado Ri ver Slorag('
Project units:
Ii:I&Ylle N Aspitl<lll . 3 dall1S
with lotalstorageof
1,083-.,990 acre-feeL ma,\l-
nH'lm generation capacitr of
297 megawatts;' and
1,089;929 rccTeHlicm Vi8it"
( 199])
Rlami1JgGorge 4 lOlal stoftlge
of'3,788;900:ac:re-feet~ ma)<i'~
murn generation gupacity of'
152,m0gI1Watt~; _and
2,j236.000 recreation vi~ils
(199l)
Cleft C(~TtYOIl ,~ total storage of
.27.000,000 .~re.fee': PQ~er
,generation capacity of 1,356
mr,gawlItt$; ,.rid3,21O.890
r<l<\r".tion visili; (199 I)
Navajo - tOlalstoT<igc of
1,708,600 i:lcf('l'-ftlct; 110 lecl-
em1 powerp1ant; and 448.793
rei::reafion visits (1991)

Tplnl recreation visits. upper
Cnlorado River drainage:
9,042,709(1991)

T6lul ;left's water llurfuee for
recreation in upper Cotmado
f~.ivfrdra;nage:
Q30,OOO lie res

Total miles. reservoir shoreline
fot reert'-8tion lil tipper Colorado
River drainage:
1.500 miles

Iu-tbe,lo\\icr Inisin'

Colorado' Hiver draiQage:
1.i8.000 square miles

Mfljortriliutarics:
Virgiil, Bill WilIiam~ and
Gi.la. rivers

CtJl~inLred on page 2

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I

MSSIONSTATEMENT'
To manage, develop, and
protect water and related
resources in an environmen-
tally and economically
sound manner in the interest
of the American public.

The Bureau of
Reclamation has respond-
ed to the challenge of
helping develop the West
by providing for sustained
economic growth, an
improved environment
and an enhanced quality
of life. Reclamation's mul-
tipurpose projects provide
safe and dependable
water supplies for agricul-
tural, municipal and
industrial, and domestic
users. Clean, renewable
hydroelectric energy is
produced at Reclamation
powerplants while water
quality is protected imd
improved. Equally impor-
tant, recreation attd fish
and wildlife benefits are
provided for the public;
river regulation and navi-
gation are enhanced; and
damaging floods are con-
trolled.
President Theodore
Roosevelt is often recalled
for initiating Western
growth through the found-
ing of the Bureau of
Reclamation in 1902. In
addition to his legacy of
using Reclamation to devel-
op the West, President
Roosevelt also said: "As a
people we have the right
and duty...to protect our-
selves and our children
against the wasteful de vel-

opment of our natural
resources," It is in that
spirit of seeking the prop-
er balances of develop-
ment and resource man-
agement in today's
modern West that
Reclamation has devel-
oped its strategic plan, a
long-term framework for
water resources manage-
ment, development and
protection.
The strategic plan focus-
es on a number of oppor-
tunities grouped into five
categories: managing and
developing resources; pro-
tecting the environment;
safeguarding the invest-
ment; building partner-
ships; and fostering quality
management.
The strategic plan and
further information is
available from any Bureau
of Reclamation office.

The Colorado River
The COlorado River has
earned the title of being
one of the most regulated
rivers in the world. This
regulation takes place
both structurally with
more than 20 major dams
in the system and verbally
through compacts, public
laws and international
treaties. The river's reser-
voirs provide a storage
capacity of more than 60
million acre-feet, a four-
to five-year supply.

Upper Basin

Introduction
The Upper Colorado
River Basin drains an area
of more than 108,000
square miles, with major
tributaries including the
Green, Gunnison and San
Juan rivers. Essentially,
that includes all drainages

to the Colorado River
downstream to Lee Ferry
and the Grand Canyon.
It is a region of diversi-
ty, from the snowpacked
mountains of Colorado,
New Mexico, Wyoming
and Utah to the desert
lands of Southern Utah
and Arizona. It encom-
passes sparsely populated
rural areas and rapidly
developing urban centers,
placing ever-increasing
demands upon the upper
basin states' share of the
waters of the Colorado
River.
The Upper Colorado
Region works in partner-
ship with the individual
states in development of
the states' share of the
Colorado River while
striving to ensure that all
requirements of the
Natiottal Environmental
Policy Act, the
Endangered Species Act
and other applicable legis-
lation are fully honored.

Colorado River Storage
Project
The guiding force
behind development and
management of water in
the upper basin is the
Colorado River Storage
Project Act (CRSP). This
1956 act allows compre-
hensive development of
the water resources of the
upper basin states to
move forward, while pro-
viding for long-term regu-
latory storage of water to
meet the entitlements of
the lower basin.
There are four main
storage projects built

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