Colorado River

Cultural  

1. River in the southwestern United States, with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado, that flows generally southwest through Colorado, Utah, and Arizona; forms the border between Nevada and Arizona and Arizona and California; and then flows through Mexico, emptying into the Gulf of California.

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Source of fresh water for communities in Nevada, Arizona, and California.

The site of the Hoover Dam.

Over millions of years, the force of the river has carved the Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona.

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Colorado River

California uses more water from the Colorado River than any other state, mostly for agriculture, though the state has taken less in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

“It’s a hell of a milestone,” said Jack Schmidt, director of Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

In May, the powerful Imperial Irrigation District nixed Rucci’s plan to buy farmland, leave it fallow and use the allotted water from the Colorado River to cool the data center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Power and water have emerged as major issues in the data-center dispute in this arid region, where sprawling lettuce and alfalfa farms rely on the Colorado River for irrigation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

California Native American hunter-gatherers traded with Native American farmers in the Colorado River valley.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond