4100

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 4100
• Author: Gibert, S.
• Title: Water Policy and Development of the Colorado River.
• USFW Year: 1973.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

nATER POLICY AND DEVELOFMENT OF THE COLORADO RIVER

The Nile

The Colorado and Nile rivers nave often been compared,
especially in terms of drainage patterns and use. Both rivers
originate in snow-melt streams in mountains high above the
desert through which the convergent waters Jlust 1'lo'l'l to the
sea. The drain~ge area of the Colorado is large, but because
of the high evaporation rates and the sheer distance through
the desert, the final flow is a mere trickle coru;ared to its
potential. However, the river is highly unpredictable and
subject to flash flooding fro~ both snow melt in the mountains
and infrequent torrential storms char3cteristic of tne desert.
Like ti:le Hile, the Colorado does not flo;.; througn just a
sand desert, but through a desert that is a storehouse of
nutrients and rich soil that wants onlJ for hater. Thus, tae
Colorado becomes a substitute for rain.
Three problems are readily identified: 1) small Nater
flow for a potentially large area, 2) unpredictable flooding
in the lower regions and 3) excessive slit-sand load of the
river. One other problem, unicue to t~e Colorado, is that
the river is e~trenched in sheer canyons through a great major-
ity of its course. (1 ,3,4,6)

-1-