Colorado River

The Colorado River is the principal river of the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico.

Rising in the western Rocky Mountains, the 1,450-mile  river drains a vast arid region of the Colorado Plateau and the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts as it heads towards the Gulf of California.

For 8,000 years, the Colorado Basin was only sparsely populated by Native Americans, though some of their ancient civilizations employed advanced irrigation techniques.

After becoming part of the US in the 1800s, the Colorado River country remained extremely remote until John Wesley Powell's 1869 river-running expedition, which began to open up the river for future development.

Since the completion of Hoover Dam in 1935, the Colorado has been tamed by an extensive system of dams and canals, providing for irrigation, cities, and hydropower. Today the Colorado supports 40 million people in seven U.S. and two Mexican states; with every drop of its water allocated.

The Colorado River is the lifeline of the Southwest United States and northern Mexico. It provides water for drinking, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. But the river is running out of water. The average annual flow of the Colorado River has declined by about 20% since the 1950s. This is due to a combination of factors, including climate change, increased water demand, and groundwater depletion.

As a result of the declining water supply, the Colorado River no longer reaches the Gulf of California. The last time it did was in 1960. The river used to flow for over 1,400 miles, but now it ends in a delta in Mexico that is dry for most of the year.

Famed for its dramatic rapids and canyons, the Colorado is one of the most desirable whitewater rivers in the United States, and its Grand Canyon section – run by more than 22,000 people annually.