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of the Gila River confluence, south 1.2 CLIMATE <br />into Mexico. <br />Bedrock portions of the river, <br />with their relatively straight and <br />fixed channels, are equally well- <br />marked today, for these are the sites <br />of dams. The valley today is still a <br />progression of wide alluvial flood- <br />plains alternating with narrower <br />stretches bordered by desert hills. <br />However, this progression is now punc- <br />tuated by a series of large, shallow <br />reservoirs (Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, <br />and Imperial Reservoir) (Figures <br />5A,B). Their fluctuating water levels <br />inhibit the formation of a stable <br />vegetated shoreline. <br />Besides the topographic features <br />of the land and the meandering river <br />channel, an important physical feature <br />of the lower Colorado region is its <br />climate. By the time the river <br />reaches Davis Dam, it has dropped to <br />an elevation of 213 m (700 ft) and <br />flows through one of the hottest <br />desert regions in the world. This <br />desert is usually referred to as the <br />Colorado subregion of the Sonoran <br />Desert, but in reality it is a transi- <br />tion between two larger deserts, the <br />Sonoran to the east and the Mohave to <br />the west and north. This area is hot <br />and dry for much of the year with <br />- ` <br />'1 4 <br />t _ <br />Y <br />Figure 5A. Lake Havasu, created by the completion of Parker Dam in 1938. <br />6