The Parker post., 1912-08-31
AMERICAN NILE
GREATSTREAM
MOST DIVERSE RIVER IN THE
UNITED STAES-STUDY OF ITS
800. 900 SQUARE-MILE BASIN BY
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.


mountain plateau of Wyoming and
Colorado to the fartheSt southwest
corner of the United States. The
basin drained by the Colorado and it's
tributaries is about 100000 square
miles i'm area, and much of 1T is OIL
high industrial and scenic interest.
The Colorado basin comprises two
distinct portions The lower third iG
but ilttel above the level of the seq.
though here and there in it ranges of
mountains rise to elevations of 1900
to 5000 feet. This part of the val
ley is bounded on the north by a
line of cliffs which present a bold
and in many places vertical step of
hundreds of thousands of feet ito
the table-land above. The upper two
thirds of the basin stands from 1000
to 5000 feet above sea level and Ne
bordered ON the east, west, and north
by ranges of snow-clad mountains,
which attain attitudes ranging from
5000 to $4,000 feet. Through this
plateau the Colorado and its tributa
ries have cut narrow gorges or can
yons i'm which they flow at almost
inaccessible depths At points where
lateral streams enter, the canyons
are broken by marrow transverse
valleys. The whole upper ba5in OF
the Colorado is traversed by a laby
rinth of these canyons, many of
which are dry during the greater
portion of the year and carry water
only during the melting of the snow
and the brief periods of the autumn
nal and spring rains.
In the lower portion the river
strongly resembles the Nile, having
annual floods which distribute silt
over the adjoining lands and render
6flsm as fertile ais those in the his
tcnic valley of North Africa The
Colorado and it's tributaries are not
only of value for irrigation but de-
scendmg in deep channels, they
present abundant opportunities for
the development of water power
Power has been developed at few
points, but the resources of the Cox
orado basin are i'm this respect yet
practically untouched.
ObserVatios by United Statets Geo.
logical Survey.
In a basin so literally provided
with natural resources it lis a fun
damental necessity, i'm planning for
the utilization of the river, to ascer-
tain the amount of water available
in the main stream and its princ-
pal tributaries, so that the future
developments, as we'll as those now
under construction, cam be suitably
designed i'm type and capacity. For
long period of years the United
States Geological Survey has been
making observations and measure
ments at many important points i'm
the Colorado basin, and the latest
published information ON the sub
ject is contained i'm Water-Supply
Paper 289 of the Survey by Engi-
neers w. B. Freeman, E. C. La Rue,
and II. ID. Padgett, which lis a pro-
gressive report of river-flow meas
urementS in this. basin for the year
1910. Gaging stations were main
tanned at 'arge number of river
points, covering Grand River and
tributaries in Colorado; Green RiV-
er and tributaries in Utah, Colo
RADIO, and Wyoming; the San Juan
basin in northwestern New Mexico;
the Little Colorado River BASIN in
Arizona; and finally the discharge
near the mouth of the main stream
at Yuma ,Ariz. These records are
not only of local value for guiding
economic development, but they
have an international significance
in connection with the difficulties
that have been encountered in the
control of the Colorado near it's
mouth IN Mexican territory.
Necessity for ContrtoI of the River.
The control of the Colorado for
the prevention of further outbreaks
such as its recent diversion into
the Salton Sea must involve thor
ough knowledge of the tributary
flow, even in the high regions of
its headwaters, in Colorado, and
the ultimate steps taken to prevent
disastrous inalndation will in all
probability involve the control of
theGe upland tributaries
The size of the Colorado River
is indicated by it's discharge at |