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<br />Introduction <br /> <br />It was almost 1.500 years ago when the Colorado <br />River was tapped tor the tirsttime by humans. Since <br />then, the water otthe Colorado has been claimed. <br />reclaimed, divided and sub-divided many times. In <br />fact, every drop of the average 5 trillion gallons of <br />water annually tlowing along its banks is accounted <br />for. <br /> <br />People throughout the Southwestern United States <br />depend on the Colorado's water for a wide variety <br />of uses including drinking water, crop irrigalion, <br />electricity, industrial uses and recreation. Water from <br />fhe river plays an integral part in keeping over 3.5 <br />million acres of farmland in production and the thirsts <br />of 25 million people quenched. In essence. the water <br />allows cities and farms to achieve the impossible by <br />creating thriving economies where otherwise there <br />wouldn't be any. <br /> <br />Copper Basin Reservoi/; <br />(/24.000 acrecfeetlake <br />held back by a 2/ (J-foot <br />concrete dam, is the <br />eastern portal for tile <br />Whipple Mountain Tunnel, <br />the gatcH'ay to California S <br />Colorado River Aqueduct. <br /> <br />More water is exported from the Colorado's 250,000 <br />square.mile basin than from any other river basin in <br />the United Sfates. Water is diverted over the <br />Continental Divide fo supply the city of Denver. Water <br />is diverted in Utah to the Salt lake Valley, in <br />New Mexico to the Rio Grande Basin to serve <br />Albuquerque. in Wyoming to serve Cheyenne and <br />in California to the southern coastal plain and <br />irrigation districts. <br /> <br />Seven western slates, the federal government, the <br />Republic of Mexico and dozens of American Indian <br />tribes share rights to the water that flows 1.450 miles <br />from the state of Colorado to the Gulf of California. <br />Though Colorado River water has been heavily <br />sought after for decades. there are legal limits as to <br />how much water each party can take from the river. <br />While river flows can be erratic, an extensive system <br />of reservoirs has kept the water supply relatively <br />stable over the past 50 years. Consumption. <br />however, has continued to increase. <br /> <br />It was believed in the early 1920s that about 18 mil. <br />lion acre-feet could be depended upon annually at <br />Lee's Ferry, the accounting point between the river's <br />Upper and lower basins. (An acre-foot of water. <br />about 326.000 gallons. will cover one football field <br />to a depth of 1 foot and can meet the annual indoor <br />and outdoor needs of one to two households in the <br />United States.) More accurate measurements since <br />1905 indicate the average annual flow is closer to <br />15 million acre-feet. However. yearly actual flows on <br />the river have fluctuated trom a low of 5 million to <br />more than 24 million acre-teet during its recorded <br />history. <br /> <br />Over 100 years ago, people were concerned with <br />supplying water to a rapidly growing region and not <br /> <br />