Laserfiche WebLink
<br />16 WATER AND CHOICE IN THE COLORADO BASIN <br /> <br />Compared with the conterminous United States, the Colorado basin" <br />has very Iinle cropland and a large amount of pasture and rangeland. <br /> <br />COLORADO BASIN <br /> <br />CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />ABOUT ONE HALF OF THE COLORADO BASIN <br />IS FEDERALL Y OWNED <br /> <br />"Other" includes areas covered by towns, <br />pavements, bare rocks. sand dunes, and <br />unforested parts of national parks. <br />Sectors indicate percent of total. <br /> <br />-Exclus.ve of the part in California. <br /> <br /> <br />Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture. <br />Economic Research Service. <br /> <br />FIGURE 6 <br /> <br />Land classification in the Colorado basin. <br /> <br />A HIGH DEGREE OF RIVER CONTROL <br /> <br />Although the record of irrigation in the Colorado basin goes back some <br />2,000 years, prior to 1900 it was limited to the tributaries and headwaters <br />because the main river was too large and wild to be tamed. In 1901, the first <br />