page_title: Colorado River Storage Project
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Colorado River Storage Project / History
caption_attribution_description: Beach along the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry.
context_page_description: The Colorado River Storage Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the upper Colorado River basin. The project provides hydroelectric power, flood control and water storage for participating states along the upper portion of the Colorado River and its major tributaries.
  Since its inception in 1956, the project has grown to include the participation of several related water management projects throughout the river's basin. The project's original scope, and primary focus, are the upper Colorado River itself, the Green River, the San Juan River, and the Gunnison River.
  Participating states are Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.
context_section_description: Attempts at managing the water supply in the upper Colorado River basin were first recorded in 1854 at Fort Supply in Wyoming, when water was diverted from Blacks Fork to irrigate local lands. Subsequent diversions of the waters in the Colorado basin led to preliminary investigations of means to develop the system as early as 1902 when the Bureau of Reclamation, then known as the Reclamation Service, was established.
  
  Serious consideration for the project began when the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 by the participating states, as well as the lower Colorado River states, California and Nevada.  As a stipulation of that compact, the upper basin states were required to ensure an annual flow of no less than 7,500,000 acre feet (9.3 km³) be delivered to the lower basin states.  However, the annual flow of the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry in Arizona, the established dividing point, were extremely erratic, ranging from 4,000,000 acre feet (4.9 km³) to 22,000,000 acre feet (27 km³).  This led to an inability of the upper basin states to meet the minimum delivery requirements to the lower states in dry years, and a loss of significant surpluses in wet years.  
  In order to regulate the flow of the Colorado and ensure compliance with the compact, a study was undertaken that determined a series of dams and reservoirs on the river and its tributaries would be necessary.  A joint effort between the Upper Colorado River Commission, the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies delivered a report with proposed projects to the United States Congress in 1950.
  Among the proposed projects was a dam to be constructed on the Green River in Echo Park, in Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado.  The proposal for Echo Park Dam created controversy and sparked the ire of Sierra Club director David Brower, who embarked on a national campaign to rescue the park.  As part of a compromise, the proposed dam was stricken from the project and replaced with another dam in Glen Canyon, Arizona.  Brower, who had not personally visited Glen Canyon prior to the compromise, later lamented the deal, describing it as "the worst mistake of his career"  and "'the biggest sin I ever committed'".
  A revised, and slightly pared down, version of the plan was passed into law by Congress in 1956.  The legislation called for the construction of dams, reservoirs and related works at Curecanti in Colorado, Flaming Gorge in Wyoming, Navajo in New Mexico and Glen Canyon in Arizona.  All but the Navajo project were to include power generation capabilities; the Navajo project was intended as flood control only.  Also included in the legislation were several related projects in the Colorado River basin.
caption: Lee's Ferry, Arizona, is the dividing point between the upper and lower Colorado River basins.
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