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Colorado
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COLORADO RIVER
Length: 1450 miles (2,333 kilometers)
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The following Colorado River businesses are listed by River Mile-marker (RM) going upstream.
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Colorado River rising in the Rocky Mountains of north Colorado, in northwest Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver, and flowing generally southwest through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, then between Nevada and Arizona, and Arizona and California, and then into Mexico, emptying into the Gulf of California. The Colorado River drains 244,000 square miles. The source is surrounded on three sides by the Continental Divide; flows south through Grand Lake (Shadow Mountain Reservoir) and Lake Granby reservoirs, then generally southwest past Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Grand Junction, Colorado, where it receives the Gunnison River from southeast, into Utah, where it forms the south boundary of Arches National Park at Moab, then through Canyonlands National Park, where it receives the Green River, its longest tributary from the north. The Colorado then enters Glen Canyon National Recreational Area and Lake Powell, formed by the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, in extreme northeast Arizona, and at 26,997,000,000 cubic feet is the 2d largest reservoir in the United States. The Colorado receives the San Juan River from the east. Below Glen Canyon Dam, the river enters Marble Canyon and Grand Canyon National Park. (The river and part of Lake Powell form the northwest boundary of the Navajo Indian Reservation.) Due to major park expansion in 1975, the river flows 140 miles through the park, through Marble Canyon and the spectacular Grand Canyon; then for another 100 miles it forms the south boundary of the west extension of the park and north boundary of Hualapai Indian Reservation. It then enters Lake Mead National Recreational Area (at 28,253,000,000 cubic feet Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam, is the largest reservoir in the United States). The lake and Lake Mohave below it, formed by Davis Dam, form the Arizona-Nevada state line. The large north arm of Lake Mead receives the Virgin River from the northeast. Below the Hoover Dam, the river flows almost due south. Below the Davis Dam, it flows through Fort Mohave Indian Reservation and becomes the California-Arizona state line. It forms the boundary of Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, east, and Chemehueva Indian Reservation, west, flowing past Lake Havasu City and through Lake Havasu, formed by Parker Dam. Below Parker Dam, the river flows past Parker; through Colorado Indian Reservation; through Cibola and Imperial National wildlife refuges; forms east and south boundary of Fort Yuma Indian Reservation; and past Yuma, Arizona. Around Yuma, the Colorado passes through Imperial, Laguna, and Morelos dams, each with minor reservoirs, the volume of the river having been reduced by diversion to major cities and irrigation projects in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Just east of Yuma, the Colorado receives the Gila River from east. Below Yuma, the river forms part of the United States-Mexico border. Approximately final 100 miles of the river, reduced to a braided trickle, flows through Mexico, forming the border between Baja California Norte and Sonora states, and enters the north end of the Gulf of California. In its small delta is Isla Montague. Many national parks, monuments, and recreational areas are located along the river banks. The Colorado’s waters are used for power and irrigation, especially by means of the Colorado River. storage project, the Colorado–Big Thompson project, Hoover Dam, Davis Dam, Imperial Dam, the All-American Canal, Parker Dam, and Glen Canyon Dam. Controversies over water rights on the Colorado have long raged between the United States and Mexico and among the bordering states; treaties and compacts regulate the river’s use.
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