1. Where is the Colorado River? Perhaps more importantly, where is the Colorado River watershed? What is a watershed? Where is the division between the upper and lower Colorado River watersheds? What are the rainfall patterns within the watershed? How is the gradient of the Colorado River different than other rivers of similar size? Why is gradient important in determining the characteristic of a river?
2. What is special about the Colorado River? Why is it so important (or is it)? How is the Colorado River currently different from its unregulated state?
3. What is the Colorado River Compact? How does the Colorado River Compact deal with inter-annual variability? What determines who gets how much water?
4. What is a hydrograph? What is discharge? What are the units of discharge? What does a hydrograph for a naturally flowing river look like? What about a river just downstream of a hydroelectric dam? What about an other type of dam?
5. What is the "Grand Flush"? Why do we have to "flush" the Grand Canyon periodically?
Slides from today are on Sakai. Materials for the Colorado River Homework Assignment are up on Sakai as well. Your assigned reading for Friday is Exporting the Colorado River to Asia, Through Hay by Ben Jervey Published
January 23, 2014 in National Geographic.
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