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The Colorado River and how it is impacted
by humans
Here’s an interesting question to start with;
What ocean does the Colorado River empty into?
Answer; None, although it once flowed into the Pacific Ocean via the
Sea of Cortez.
The Colorado River is fed by the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The river
traditionally flowed southwest for 1,470 miles to the Gulf of California,
Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. Water diversion and the construction of numerous
dams in the United States has stopped the flow of water into the Sea
of Cortez. This has created significant environmental damage in the U.S.
and Mexico, and also endangers the marine environment of the Sea of Cortez.
The 1,360 miles of its route in the United States makes it the nation's
fifth longest river. It drains a large portion of the North American
continent covering 242,000 square miles in the United States and 3,000
square miles in Mexico. The Colorado and its tributaries drain southwestern
Wyoming and western Colorado, parts of Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and California,
and almost all of Arizona. Three fourths of the basin is federal land
devoted to national forests and parks and Indian reservations. |
