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

Scientists have uncovered evidence that an enormous ancient cliff system may have helped expose the deepest rocks of the Grand Canyon nearly a billion years before the Colorado River began carving the landscape seen today.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

“Arizona is on the razor’s edge,” said Brian Richter, a water researcher in New Mexico who studies the Colorado River.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

California is expected to cut its use of Colorado River water by about 12% through 2028, while Arizona will take about 31% less and Nevada 28% less.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The seven states that depend on the Colorado River have been arguing for years about how to share the river's water without being able to reach an agreement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

It was near the Colorado River, founded back in the nineteenth century by some guy who figured he could get rich turning the desert into farmland.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls