Hi everybody!

I think it is strange to apply for an expedition without knowing anything about this place.

So this should be an option to post information about the Colorado River if you already know something or to inform yourself.

In addition, this is a chance to say why you are applying for this expedition and what is the most exciting thing of the nature there.

I will be glad if you post a lot of information!!!

Here are the first information:

• meaning: Colorado = Spanish: coloured in red)
• the most important and biggest river in northwestern Amerika in the soutwestern states of the USA
• length: 2.333 km
• source: in the Rocky-Mountain-Nationalpark
• flows through 1600 km of canyons (e.g. Glenwood Canyon, Glen Canyon and of course the Grand Canyon)
• the ecosystem is very different along the Colorado River
• there are lots of enviromental problems because of barrages (fishes die..)

I am applying for this expedition because I am very interested of the cultures and nature of the USA. The Colorado River Indian Tribes include four distinct Tribes - the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo. They all have an interesting culture and they feel very conjoined with this amazing country. The canyons are unique on this planet and I want to explore this great nature. So that I can understand the circulation of nature there and hand down this knowledge to other people with the destination to sensitize them for nature, and to make them protect it.

Thank you very much for creat this discussion group.

Let's share our information and learning more about this project.

I want to join this project because rivers in China are also facing a lot of problems. If  possible, i want to find out the ways of solving the problems.

I will find more information and share with you all:)

More details about Colorado River.

The Colorado River is the primary river of the American Southwest, draining somewhere in the vicinity of 242,000 square miles of land, from the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. The Green River is the primary tributary of the Colorado River, and until 1921 the Colorado River did not technically begin until the Grand and Green Rivers joined together in Utah. In that year the Grand River was renamed as the Colorado River, at the request of the State of Colorado .

The headwaters of the Colorado River are located inRocky Mountain National Parkin Colorado. From here, at an altitude of 9,010 feet, the Colorado begins it's flow southwestward toward the Gulf o f California and the Pacific Ocean. By the time the river enters the Grand Canyon, atLee's Ferry, its altitude has fallen to 3,110 feet, dropping over one mile since its beginning. The river will drop another 2,200 f eet before it reaches the other end of the Grand Canyon, theGrand Wash Cliffs, 277 miles away.

The river contains alternating sections of rapids and calm sections. The depth of the river varies from 6 feet to 90 feet, with the average being about 20 feet. The rapids are the shallow sections and the calm sections tend to be the deepest parts. Some deep holes have also formed at the base or foot of some of the more major rapids. The rapids represent only 10 percent of the river's total length through the Grand Canyon, but are responsible for more than half of the total drop in altitude.

The Colorado River was originally named Rio Colorado or "Red River" by the Spanish. A person looking at the river today may not understand how it came to be named in this way, as the present day color of the river is more of a blue-green. The reddish-bro wn color that originally gave the river its name become a rarity upon completion of theGlen Canyon Damin 1963. The silt and sediments that gave the river its color are now trapped behind the dam in the bottom o fLake Powell.

Before construction of theGlen Canyon Damthe river would carry 500,000 tons of silt and sediment per day, in an average day, through the Grand Canyon. The peak flow rate of the Colorado before construction of t he dam would normally be around 85,000cfsfor the month of June. By examining river sediments, scientists have determined that on a number of occasions over the past 4,000 years, the river reached peak flow rates of over 25 0,000cfs. The peak flow rate through the Grand Canyon after construction of the dam was reduced to 50,000cfson rare occasions and is normally around 30,000cfs. The primary purpose for construction of theGlen Canyon Damwas to prevent silt from building up behind another dam,Hoover Dam, on the other side of the Grand Canyon, at the head ofLake Mead.

Construction of theGlen Canyon Damhas adversely affected the ecology of the Grand Canyon. Flash floods that would at one time scour the inner-canyon clean and deposit fresh sand along the beaches no longer occu r. The water temperature, which used to get as warm as 80 degrees F, is now icy-cold all year and averages around 42 degrees F. Because of the changes in the water temperature some of native fish that used to inhabit the river have become extinct and sti ll others are endangered. The Rainbow Trout, a non-native specicies which was introduced by man, thrives in the colder waters and makes it even more difficult for the native fishes to survive.

Hi!

Can we start from some videos so that we will learn more about Colorado River while having fun?

I strong recommend you to watch this video.

This is the brief introduction of Colorado River.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTkOKns3YwY

I hope you all enjoy it:)

Hey.

One reason why I apply for this expedition is that I'm interested in the ecosystem for special places. And I got to knew something about the ecosystem here in Germany at the North Sea or in the Black Forest but I know not so much about the ecosystem and diversity of species at big rivers. So I thought this could be a good chance to getting known about these.

So here you can gain a short insight in the ecosystem at the colorado river:

Definetly you know in many rivers are dams. But one consequenz of the barrages is the damage of the sediments which normaly are taken by the river but they often will detained at the dams. And one terrible example is the colorado river. 'Cause since the Hoover-Dam (Nevada/USA) was built the river digs four meters in the ground. By that extrem removal of pebbles and boulders many fish species loose their spawnig ground and many vermin species loose their biotope. Also the plants at the river bank are taken by the river along. Therefore the erosion at the bank is raised but also there misses producer and so the whole food chain, and the oxygen and carbon circulation is aggrieved.

This was just a short insight but i want to research more about that.

Cool:)

Let's search more information and share with others.

I am busy with my final exmas but i will concentrate on this project later.

One of the biggest environmental problem at the colorado river is that the humans actually use all of the water: 19 000 000 000 cubic metres. And the US-American weather and ocean office sais that based on the climate change the biggest barrier lakes (Powell and Mead) drying-out so there will be a difficult situation for the soutwestern economy.

The US Bureau of Reclamation announced 2010 that there is a risc of 20% that the surface of the water from the Lake Mead sink in two years so much that there will be a serious water and electricity curtness in Las Vegas.

Thank you for all these interesting information! I am happy about your collaboration  Now we have some first impressions about the environmental situation at the Colorado River and I think there are lots of problems, we have to think about. So, if you have further information, ideas or other things about the Colorado River you want to share, please post them!!!

Another huge environmental problem is the damming of the Colorado river. Dams cause massive changes to the upper river and lower river. Large upper areas of land and other streams have to be flooded, this causes the extinction/ endangering of sensitive specialized organisms. As the water in the dam becomes more "toxic" to them they die and the generalist and invasive species dominate. The lower river is exposed to large dumps of water and then long periods of little water. This also causes species to disappear.

Yet without damming the river many people would not be able to live in this part of the USA. The arid climate demands for water for people to survive and make a living.

Yet something has to be done. There needs to be innovated ideas to provide people with water and protect the rivers delicate ecosystem. People need to work together to save water. Not just in Colorado but throughout the world.