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<br />POWELL I S RIVER, THE COLORAOO <br /> <br />The Nile <br /> <br />The Colorado and NUe rivers have often been compared, especially <br />in teJ."JlS of drainage patterns and use. Both rivers originate in snow- <br />melt streams in lIIDuntains high above the desert through which the <br />convergent waters must flow to the sea. The drainage area of the Col'l- <br />orado is large, but because of the high evaporation rates and the sheer <br />distance through the desert, the final. now is a mere trickle compared <br />to its potential. However, the river is highly unpredictable and sub- <br />ject to flash flooding :from both snow melt in the mountains and infre- <br />quent torrential storms characteristic of the desert. <br />Like the NUe, the Colorado does not now through just a sand <br />desert, but through a desert that is a storehouse or nutrients and rich <br />soil that. wants only for water. Thus, the Colorado becomes a substitute <br />ror rain. <br />Three problems are readily identified: 1) small water now ror a <br />potentially' large area, 2) unpredictable nooding in the lower regions <br />and 3) excessive sUt-sand load of the river. One other problem, <br />unique to the Colorado, is that the river is entrenched in sheer can- <br />yons through a great majority of its course. <br /> <br />';'1.. <br />