The topic for the day was the physical hydrology of the Colorado River, its importance in providing electricity, irrigation, and drinking water for the American West, its importance by proxy, those of us who eat food from the American West, and the legal division of its water (the 1922 compact). Important concepts from this lecture were: gradient (% grade), siltation, design life, hydro power as renewable energy.
On Monday, we will Continue our discussion of the dams and water resource management in the American West with a further look at groundwater extraction related subsidence, the Grand Coulee Dam. Please read Chapter 5 in Cadillac Desert before class.
Slides shown in lecture today have been posted as a .pdf to Sakai.
Do not forget to e-mail me (or print and hand in in class on Monday) your calculations for the average annual flow for the CO river over the last several decades. Remember that I want your answer in acre feet per year. I will look over the data on Monday afternoon and we will discuss your finding in lecture on Wednesday.
The my maps page has been updated with the locations mentioned in today's lecture.
Friday, March 12, 2010
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