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<br />002811 <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />DRAFT <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />/o6~-? <br /> <br />1984 C'L'~A" ~IVE~ '~E~ATI.N <br />STUDY REPORT <br /> <br />SECTION I - OVERVIEW <br /> <br />1.1 Background <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin is one of the most operationally complex river <br />systems in the world (fig. 1). This multipurpose reservoir system <br /> <br />serves flood control, irrigation water supply, municipal and industrial <br /> <br />water supply,- hydropower generation, water quality control, recreation, <br />and fish and wildlife propagation. The~stem consists of 10 major <br /> <br />storage reservoirs and other related facilities with an aggregate <br /> <br />storage capacity of approximately 60 million acre-feet. This storage <br /> <br />capacity is about four times the average annual yield of water in the <br />Colorado River Basin. The long-term average annual virgin flow at LeeS' <br /> <br />Ferry, Arizona (a Colorado River gaging station below Glen Canyon Dam) <br /> <br />is about 15 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />The two largest Colorado River Basin storage and hydroelectric installa- <br />tions are Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. Lake Powell (the impoundment <br />behind Glen Canyon Dam) and Lake Mead (the impoundment behind Hoover <br /> <br />Dam) have respective active storage capacities of 25 and 27 million <br /> <br />acre-feet. <br /> <br />Before construction of these storage and regulating structures, the <br />erratic flows of the Colorado River, its tendency toward destructive <br /> <br />1 <br />