WET DESERT EXAM Flashcards
Why is the Glenn Canyon Dam important? Where is is located?
It was the first big dam on the Colorado river. It is in Page, Arizona.
Why was the terrorist in the book upset?
He was upset because there was no water going through the delta of the Colorado river.
What is Lake Powell? Where is it located?
Lake Powell is the reservoir behind the Glenn Canyon Dam. It is located in Utah.
What does an emergency spillway do?
A spillway that provides for additional safety should emergencies not contemplated by normal design assumptions be encountered.
Does water have a lot of erosive power?
yes
How long is the Colorado river?
1450 miles
How many square miles is the Colorado river?
246,000 sq. mi.
Where are the headwaters of the Colorado river?
In the high mountains of CO, UT, WY, and NM.
How tall is the Glenn Canyon Dam?
It is 700 feet tall with 500 feet of standing water.
How much water does the Glenn Canyon dam contain?
It contains 2 years worth of Colorado river flow.
What is important about Lee’s Ferry?
It is the place where the first person (the fisherman) dies. It is also the only place within Glen Canyon where visitors can drive to the Colorado river in over 700 miles of canyon country right up to the first rapid of the Grand Canyon.
How tall is Hoover dam?
700ft tall
How many spillways does Hoover dam have?
2, AZ and NV
What happened with Hoover dam and the Arizona spillway in 1983?
Unusual winter produced increased snowfall over the entire Colorado River basin, melted snow caused the flood. It was the one and only time that water has gone into the the AZ spillway due to high discharge on the river.
What do spillways do?
A structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area. Ensures that water does not overflow and damage or destroy the dam.
What town is on a floodplain of the Colorado downstream from Davis dam that gets wiped out?
Laughlin, NV
What happens to discharge as you move down the Colorado river?
It decreases because we use it for agriculture, now transports less than 5-20% of the sand it historically transported
In the book, at which dam was the failed bombing attempt?
Davis Dam
What is the order of the dams down the Colorado River?
Lake Powell
Glen Canyon Dam
Lake Mead
Hoover Damn
Lake Mohave
Davis Dam
Lake Havasu
Parker Dam
Headgate Rock Dam
Palo Verde Dam
Imperial Dam
Which dam is Laughlin, Nevada closet to?
Davis Dam
What are the Davis Dam spillways designed to do?
Keep up with Hoover Dam
What does Parker Dam do?
It creates lake Havasu and it backs up water for the Colorado Aqueduct, a water source for Los Angeles.
What is the capacity of the Colorado aqueduct?
1,600 ft3/s
Why blow up the Colorado Aqueduct?
It causes more flooding downstream
Where does the Colorado Aqueduct start?
At Parker Dam
What is wrong with Imperial Dam?
It is silted up and has no holding capacity.
What is the purpose of Imperial Dam?
It diverts water to the All American Canal. It is a water source for 9 cities and the Imperial Valley
What is the capacity of the California aqueduct by the Imperial Dam?
26,000 ft3/s
What is an intake tower?
It is used to collect the water being routed to turbines for generating electricity. It pulls water from great depth, rather than from the surface, to avoid sucking fish and other debris into the turbines.
What is an intake tower?
It is used to collect the water being routed to turbines for generating electricity. It pulls water from great depth, rather than from the surface, to avoid sucking fish and other debris into the turbines.
What is the Bureau of Reclamation?
A federal agency under the US Department of the Interior that oversees resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and projects that is has built throughout the Western US for irrigation, water supply, and electric power generation.
Where is the Colorado Rivers drainage basin?
Mexico
When did flooding occur in the Colorado River?
In 1983 when high snowmelt in Utah and Colorado caused Lake Powell and Lake Mead water levels to rise.
Why does Lake Mead need to be released?
Because it holds too much water and will overtop Hoover dam.
Why does Grant want to blow up the spillway on the Nevada side of Hoover dam?
In order to reduce the amount of water the goes over Hoover dam.
Is there more water passing through the Colorado River or the Mississippi River?
Mississippi