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<br />0031u6 <br /> <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />Below the San Juan, the Colorado enters the Lower Basin, winding through <br /> <br />the deep gorges of Marble and Grand Canyons, and eventually emerging into more <br /> <br />open country along the borders of Nevada, Arizona and California. A lesser <br /> <br />amount of inflow occurs in the Lower Basin, principally via the Little Colorado, <br /> <br />Virgin, Bill Williams and Gila Rivers. <br /> <br />The natural flows in the Basin are highly irregular in occurrence. While <br /> <br />the virgin flow at Lee Ferry has averaged 14.8 million acre-feet annually over <br /> <br />its measured period of record, flows in excess of 23 million acre-feet and less <br /> <br />than 7 million acre-feet annually have been recorded. Over 70% of the annual <br /> <br />virgin flow occurs in the months of May, June, and July. Flows have been <br /> <br />recorded for less than 100 years at most points on the river. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />A formidable array of reservoirs and diversion facilities alter the flow of <br /> <br />the river. The river's two principal reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, <br /> <br />formed by Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams, respectively, provide over 50 million <br /> <br />acre-feet of storage. Other major reservoirs include Lake Granby, Dillon and <br /> <br />Green Mountain Reservoirs on the mains tern Colorado, Fontenelle and Flaming Gorge <br /> <br />Reservoirs on the Green, the Curecanti unit on the Gunnison, and Navajo <br /> <br />Reservoir on the San Juan. <br /> <br />J <br /> <br />Water is diverted from the river at hundreds of relatively small diversion <br /> <br />points in the Upper Basin; in the Lower Basin diversions tend to be larger and <br /> <br />considerably fewer in number. Major diversion structures in the Lower Basin <br /> <br />include the Colorado River Aqueduct which delivers water to the Los Angeles <br /> <br />Basin, the Granite Reef Aqueduct supplying the Central Arizona Project, and the <br /> <br />All American Canal System bringing water to the Imperial Valley of California. <br /> <br />Below the international boundary, Morelos Dam diverts water for irrigation in <br /> <br />Sonora, Mexico. <br />