[270] Despite above-average runoff in 2011 that raised the immense reservoir more than 30 feet (9.1 m),[271][272] record drought conditions returned in 2012 and 2013. [128] They also established settlements along the Gila River in central Arizona beginning in 1871. [111] In Chaco Canyon and the surrounding lands, they built more than 150 multi-story pueblos or "great houses", the largest of which, Pueblo Bonito, is composed of more than 600 rooms. During this voyage Alarcón proved to his satisfaction that no open-water passage existed between the Gulf of California and the South Sea. Historically, the delta with its large freshwater outflow and extensive salt marshes provided an important breeding ground for aquatic species in the Gulf. Water use had increased significantly by the 1950s, and more water was being diverted out of the Colorado River basin to the Front Range corridor, the Salt Lake City area in Utah, and the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico. Some of these claims have been successful for the Navajo, such as a 2004 settlement in which they received a 326,000-acre-foot (402,000 ML) allotment from New Mexico. [203][204][205], In 1922, six U.S. states in the Colorado River basin signed the Colorado River Compact, which divided half of the river's flow to both the Upper Basin (the drainage area above Lee's Ferry, comprising parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and a small portion of Arizona) and the Lower Basin (Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of New Mexico and Utah). [253] This pulse reached the sea on May 16, 2014, marking the first time in 16 years that any water from the Colorado flowed into the ocean, and was hailed as "an experiment of historic political and ecological significance" and a landmark in U.S.–Mexican cooperation in conservation. After leaving St. Louis on July 15, 1806, with Spanish cavalry apparently shadowing him from a distance, Pike traveled to the area of present-day Pueblo, Colorado. Mountain man Jedediah Smith reached the lower Colorado by way of the Virgin River canyon in 1826. Colorado River. He then took a small boat up beyond the canyon to Fortification Rock and Las Vegas Wash.[158]:Part 1, 85–87 After experiencing numerous groundings and accidents and having been inhibited by low water in the river, Ives declared: "Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. [27] The construction of Hoover was a major step towards stabilizing the lower channel of the Colorado River, storing water for irrigation in times of drought, and providing much-needed flood control as part of a program known as the Boulder Canyon Project. The Spanish Peaks of Southern Colorado have been among the most important landmarks of the southwestern United States, guiding Native American tribes, Spanish and French trappers, gold seekers, hunters, and American settlers. [283] Human development of the Colorado River has also helped to create new riparian zones by smoothing the river's seasonal flow, notably through the Grand Canyon. [117][118] Some Puebloans migrated to the Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico and south-central Colorado, becoming the predecessors of the Hopi, Zuni, Laguna and Acoma people in western New Mexico. [175] In 1928, the ferry sank, resulting in the deaths of three men. Ferndando de Soto discovered Mississippi River. [250], In the 21st century, there has been renewed interest in restoring a limited water flow to the delta. [12] For the first 250 miles (400 km) of its course, the Colorado carves its way through the mountainous Western Slope, a sparsely populated region defined by the portion of the state west of the Continental Divide. The environmental movement in the American Southwest has opposed the damming and diversion of the Colorado River system because of detrimental effects on the ecology and natural beauty of the river and its tributaries. In addition to renovating irrigation canals in the Mexicali Valley to reduce leakage, this will make about 45,000 acre feet (56,000,000 m3) per year available for release to the delta on average. Choose from 425 different sets of term:colorado river = was explored by the spanish flashcards on Quizlet. [137] The four tribes now form a geopolitical body known as the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Alarcón is almost unique among 16th-century conquistadores in that he reportedly treated the Indians he met humanely, as opposed to the often reckless and cruel behavior known from accounts of his contemporaries. [27] Below the dam the river passes under the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge—which at nearly 900 feet (270 m) above the water is the highest concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere[28]—and then turns due south towards Mexico, defining the Arizona–Nevada and Arizona–California borders. [91] To the west in California, the Colorado River watershed borders on those of small closed basins in the Mojave Desert, the largest of which is the Salton Sea drainage north of the Colorado River Delta. On August 28, 1869, three men deserted the expedition, convinced that they could not possibly survive the trip through the Grand Canyon. 1854 report from the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers: This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 20:09. The Hardy River provides most of the flow into the Colorado River Delta, a vast alluvial floodplain covering about 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) of northwestern Mexico. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Further efforts have been made to combat the salt issue in the lower Colorado, including the construction of a desalination plant at Yuma. [86], As of 2010, approximately 12.7 million people lived in the Colorado River basin. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly. He was the first European to ascend the river for a distance considerable enough to make important observations. It was intended to boost supplies for the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada as well as Mexico, thus allowing the Upper Basin states to retain native Colorado River flows for their own use. The two names would later be reversed. This new boat, capable of carrying 50 tons of cargo, was very successful making round trips from the estuary to the fort in only four or five days. Beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. [90], The Colorado River basin shares drainage boundaries with many other major watersheds of North America. [81] This figure has been heavily affected by upstream diversions and reservoir evaporation, especially after the completion of the Colorado River Storage Project in the 1970s. Each was given rights to 7.5 million acre feet (9.3 km3) of water per year, a figure believed to represent half of the river's minimum flow at Lee's Ferry. [22][23], In Arizona, the river passes Lee's Ferry, an important crossing for early explorers and settlers and since the early 20th century the principal point where Colorado River flows are measured for apportionment to the seven U.S. and two Mexican states in the basin. In 1900, entrepreneurs of the California Development Company (CDC) looked to the Imperial Valley of southern California as an excellent location to develop agriculture irrigated by the waters of the river. The expedition was to be resupplied with stores and provisions delivered by ships traveling up the Sea of Cortés, the commander of which would be Alarcón. [231][232][233] The resulting Central Arizona Project (CAP) irrigates more than 830,000 acres (3,400 km2) and provides municipal supplies to over 5 million people from Phoenix to Tucson using water from the Colorado River. After leaving the confines of the Black Canyon, the river emerges from the Colorado Plateau into the Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV), a desert region dependent on irrigation agriculture and tourism and also home to several major Indian reservations. [249] These flow patterns have also made the Colorado more dangerous to recreational boaters; people are more likely to die of hypothermia in the colder water, and the general lack of flooding allows rockslides to build up, making the river more difficult to navigate. In what is now known as the Long Walk of the Navajo, the captives were marched from Arizona to Fort Sumner in New Mexico, and many died along the route. Log in. It is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, encompassing 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) with a population of over 180,000 as of 2000. 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