Where does the water in the Colorado River come from?
The short answer:
- Ninety percent of the water in the Colorado River originates in the upper basin
- Two-thirds of the annual flow starts as snow in the Rocky Mountain
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References and Additional Resources
To learn more about this question checkout these resources:
- Springs and Springs-Dependent Taxa of the Colorado River Basin, Southwestern North America: Geography, Ecology and Human Impacts – Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/General-map-of-the-Colorado-River-Basin-depicting-the-Upper-and-Lower-Basins-and-the_fig1_341630064
- Groundwater and Surface Water Considered a Joint Resource https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/more-half-streamflow-upper-colorado-river-basin-originates-groundwater#:~:text=On%20average%2C%2090%20percent%20of,area%20above%20Lees%20Ferry%2C%20Arizona.
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The importance of base flow in sustaining surface water flow in the Upper Colorado River Basin https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015WR017963