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Article: Colorado River storage project
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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Colorado River storage project a multipurpose plan, undertaken by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1956, to control the flow of the upper Colorado and its tributaries and to aid in the development of the rugged, remote upper Colorado River basin; includes parts of Wyo., Utah, Colo., Ariz., and N.Mex. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 established the division between the upper and lower basins and stipulated that the upper basin's water consumption be contingent on the delivery of a set amount of water to the lower basin. Since the flow of the Colorado is erratic, a storage project was needed to maintain an even flow of water to the lower basin in dry years (the estimate of the average ...