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. , . Nom IN Colorado is Gunhilid Spanish explorers called it Colorado-"ruddy colored" -after the sandstone silt that darkened the rushing river. Today, the reddish silt is largely gone, removed as the water passes through dams that obstruct much of the river's 1,500-mile course. Officially, river managers have divided the Colorado and its floodplain into an upper and lower basin (highlighted area), separated by the Utah-Arizona state line. At present, some 500 miles of free flowing river still exist in the upper basin. Downstream, however, huge reservoirs stockpile the water for release through the dams. IDAHO t DOW t` WYOMING Flaming QarOR Daaw!? _-?` Yampa R,_ is 4*ekeons R• hita q UTAH +?`?,? NEVADA t,. /, Cwt Sn;aaeR iJ a? Laka Paw" 77 Glen Canyon Dan Cake Y 0 Java c)* Nonvar Dam o?? V o,y Davis Dam ALIFORNtA Naadyate etas' yARIZONA Rock Daw' K Daa - - Syr PaN Vorda ? NooaarNt Dam Imparlal Gila Dam ?' M Painted sCol?lia• Daa1 Rook Dam °on -e r NEW MEXICO 0 Gulf uNIT?p iTATp at MKXICO cauforma C "AD lain ohm Mass Navajo Dam the federal agencies for their actions prior to the Colorado flood. August 12: The Bureau of Reclama- tion announces a $300.000 cloud-seed- ing project for the upper basin, part of a larger plan, says a spokesman. to "in- crease the flow of the Colorado River by nearly ten percent." Bureau of Reclamation chief Robert Broadbent blamed the flood of 1983 on a "faulty computer model" and inaccu- rate federal weathermen. But bureau of- ficials promptly instituted measures to forestall another Colorado crisis. Flood-storage space was increased throughout the system. New up- stream-gauging and satellite-monitor- ing systems were instituted for better forecasting. Snowpack and runoff esti- mates were figured in the upper ranges of probability. There was no mention, however, of any shift in power-production, conser- vation or flood-control priorities. As one Sports Illustrated writer observed: "The yo-yo-like lake-level fluctuations and hoarding of water at Glen Canyon and other dams on the Colorado must give way to a more even-handed ap- proach to water management, one that puts as much emphasis on flood control and recreation as it does on water stor- age and the generation of electricity." In the spring of 1984, reservoirs along the Colorado were again high. But snow had come early to the Rocky Mountains, and the runoff descended in a slow and measured stream rather than in a torrent like 1983. Last year, Bureau of Reclamation of- ficials were optimistic as spring ap- proached. "Lake Powell's reservoirs are about four feet from being full and we will release water most of the summer with no flooding expected," said Lee Morrison, a bureau spokesman in Salt Lake City. "Based on the 1983 floods," he added, "we have decided that there is a chance for a larger error in our calcula- tions than before, but we see no real problems." "They are perennially optimistic," an aide to Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt said of such bureau predictions. "The error, it seems, is not in the figures, but in the system that uses them." Investigative journalist Roger Morris is cur- rently writing a two volume biography of Richard Nixon, due to be released next year. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 47