Reort on the Colorado River

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The Colorado River

The Colorado River is a principal river that runs through southwestern USA. It flows for 1,450 miles (2,330 km) from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, running through 7 US states and 2 Mexican states. It is a main source of water for agricultural and urban areas and an important source of hydroelectric power. As the Southwest's only significant source of water, the Colorado River was heavily developed in the twentieth century by a system of dams, reservoirs and canals. It supplies a population of 40 million people and over 29 major dams and hundreds of miles of canals serve to supply thirsty cities, provide irrigation water to around four million acres (16,000 km2), and generate more than 12 billion KWh of hydroelectricity each year.

The Course

The source of the river begins high in a wet meadow at la Poudre pass in the rocky mountains of western Colorado around 10’000 feet above sea level. In the upper course, it initially flows south towards Mexico and is joined by many other streams and rivers before                  Colorado River, southwestern USA                 it enters the state of Utah. Here, the river starts to widen and meander which the Colorado is famous for doing.

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Meanders are a series of bends in a river which are formed when the moving water in a river erodes the outer banks and widens its valley trying to find the quickest route. This results in a snaking pattern and when a meander is cut of it forms an ox-bow lake.

After travelling through Utah, it enters its middle course, Arizona where it has famously carved out the Grand Canyon. This canyon once the Colorado plateau, was formed through millions years of erosion by the Colorado through multiple layers of rock while the specific geologic processes and timing that formed ...

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