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<br />III. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES <br /> <br />A. Description of the Physical Environment <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin encompasses a rich array of the most diverse aesthetic <br />and productive resources in the United States. The seven Basin States are <br />Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. <br />However, the productivity of the Basin's lands is tempered and controlled by <br />its arid and semiarid climate. For all practical purposes, water resources <br />development has dictated the future of the Basin since the turn of the <br />century. A 1979 report by the Comptroller General describes the Basin <br />succinctly. <br /> <br />liThe Colorado River orig inates in the Rocky Mounta ins of Colorado <br />and Wyoming, flows southwest about 1,400 miles, and empties into <br />the Gulf of California. It drains an area of 242,000 square miles <br />in seven States, which represents one-twelfth of the area of the <br />United States, excluding Alaska. The basin has climatic extremes <br />of year-round snow cover and heavy precipitation on the high peaks <br />of the Rockies and desert conditions with very low precipitation <br />in southeast California and southwest Arizona. The Colorado River <br />is controlled by several dams and reservoirs. The Glen Canyon Dam <br />and Lake Powell store most of the Upper Basin's water and control <br />releases to the Lower Basin. The Hoover Dam and Lake Mead store <br />most of the Lower Basin's supply and control the amount of water <br />released to Lower Basin users."[4] <br /> <br />Review of project alternatives by WPRS scientists indicates the San Juan <br />Mountains may be the scientifically desirable location to initiate the <br /> <br />11 <br />