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Dams on the Colorado River C,o) o --.1 ~- An elaborate system of dams built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation makes the Colorado one of the .....orld.s mast regulated rivers. The reservoirs behind RecJamation dams can hold approximately 62 million acre-feel of water in the river system. There are two types 01 dams: "' Storage dams (like Glen Canyon. Hoover. Davis. and Parker) create large reser....Oirs that store water for flood control, recrea. lion, hydroelectric power generation, and ir- rigation. > Din'nlion dams (lilte Palo Verde, Headgate Rock. Imperial. and ~orelos) primarily allow operators to mainlaJn constant. stable water surfaces in the river high enough to permit specific quantities of water to be diverted from the river into canals for year-round ir. rigation. No signilicant amounts of water are stored behind diversion dams. U,L' 'I,;, " Upper & Lower Basins Just Upstream of the Grand Canyon, at Lee Ferry, Arizona. the Colorado River Basin is divided into two basins; :> the ~upper basin, ~ ad- ministered by the Upper Colorado Regional Office in Salt Lake City, Utah: :> the "Iower basin:' ad- ministered by the Lowf'r Colorado Regional Office in Boulder City, Nevada. Project offices under the Lower Colorado Regional Ot. fice include the Yuma Projects Office in Yuma: the ~. ~.~ , E:1 ~, ! .... ,- ~ Laguna Dam Fact Sheet =5 . ,'~. I Arizona Projects Office in Phoenix (in charge of con- structing the Central Arizona Project): and the Lower Colorado Dams Project Of- fice located at Hoover Dam (in charge ot operating the storage dams along the lower Colorado River). Dams On The River's Tributaries Along the Colorado River's various tributaries (smaller rivers that feed into (he Colorado River), numerous dams exist, such as; > Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River; > Navajo Dam on the San Juan River; :> Crystal. ~10rrow Point, and Blue Mesa Dams on the Gun. nison River; r> Green .\fountain Dam on the Blue River: :> Ruedl Dam on the Roaring Fork River; and :> Granby Dam near the head_ waters at the Colorado River. Storage Dams Alter the ri"er passes iOlo Arizona, it reaches its larger storage dams. Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is located just south of the Utah border at Page, Arizona. The dam's reser_ voir, 186-mile-long Lake Powell, lies almost entirely In a three-county area of southern Utah. The reservoir can store Walen: of the Colorado Series