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10 <br />immediately above Davis Dam. Inflow is almost exclusively discharge from Hoover <br />Dam. Inputs from desert-wash flooding is infrequent, sporadic, and a minor <br />contribution. Thus, Lake Mohave generally is clear year-around. Inflowing water from <br />deep within Lake Mead is relatively rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, and as a result the <br />upper reach of Lake Mohave is highly productive, especially where cold, nutrient-rich <br />and warm, surface water mix. This mixing zone migrates several kilometers up- and <br />down-lake seasonally and with changes in discharge at Hoover Dam. <br />Lake Havasu is impounded by Parker Dam, closed in 1938. The dam and lake were <br />created primarily to provide a sedimentation basin for the California Aqueduct (see <br />below). The impoundment is separated from Davis Dam by a riverine reach about 85 <br />km long. The reservoir itself (downstream of Blankenship Bend) is approximately 50 km <br />long and nearly 5 km across at its widest point. It is relatively shallow, averaging about <br />5 m overall and approaching 15 m only in vicinity of the dam. Shorelines are- complex, <br />formed of submerged desert washes that create myriad embayments of varying size <br />separated by spits or points. Inflow hypolimnetic discharge from Davis Dam delivered <br />via the river reach through Topock Gorge (below). The Bill Williams River (regulated <br />upstream by Alamo Dam and Reservoir) empties into Lake Havasu from the east a few <br />km upstream from Parker Dam. <br />Passage of Colorado River water through Parker Dam is via epilimnetic penstocks <br />located near the surface, and is used in generate electricity. Major withdrawals from <br />Lake Havasu are the Granite Reef Aqueduct (Central Arizona Project, AZ) located <br />downstream of the Bill Williams River, and the California Aqueduct (Metropolitan Water <br />District, CA) about 3 km upstream from Parker Dam. Temperature of cold, hypolimnetic <br />water entering Lake Havasu already has been ameliorated while traveling downstream <br />from Davis Dam. This factor combines with relatively shallow depth and susceptibility <br />to strong, prevailing winds to make Lake Havasu warm and often isothermal in summer. <br />Influent water also is nutrient-rich, thus the lake.is highly productive, bordering on <br />eutrophy in summer.