THE COLORADO, LIFEBLOOD OF ARIZONA

"IT [THE COLORADO] HAS GROWN OLD, IT IS NEARING ITS END; BUT NOTHING COULD BE CALMER, SIMPLER, MORE SUBLIME, THAN THE DRIFT OF IT DOWN INTO THE DELTA BASIN."

The arteries and capillaries of the Colorado River extend to every corner of the state. Individual stretches of the river have been set aside for preservation: Grand Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon and Lake Mead national recreation areas, the Havasu, Cibola, and Imperial national wildlife refuges. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains, passes through the deserts of Utah and Arizona, and dies trying to reach the Sea of Cortes. Along the way, it gathers tributaries into its fold - such as the Green River in Utah, and the Little Colorado, Bill Williams, and Gila in Arizona. The tributaries run through landscapes that are surprisingly rich and diverse. Each tributary bears a riparian memory of lands shaped by flood and drought; each tells its own version of the old story of water and sediment.

These photographs are excerpted from Michael Collier's book Water, Earth, and Sky: The Colorado River Basin, just published by the University of Utah Press. The maps were created in the field by Craig Childs.

rivers of arizona

rivers of arizona san francisco river

"THE MOUNTAIN SLOPES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SAN FRANCISCO RIVER BETWEEN CLIFTON AND BLUE RIVER ARE STEEP AND RUGGED AND SUPPORT ONLY A DESERT GROWTH OF JUNIPER, SCRUB OAK, MESQUITE, GREASEWOOD, CACTI, OCOTILLO, AND BEAR GRASS. THE ROCK IN THE LOWER PORTION OF THIS DISTRICT IS LIMESTONE, AND IN THE UPPER PORTION, HARD SANDSTONE, WITH FREQUENT INTRUSIONS OF VOLCANIC ROCK IN BOTH."

(PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 10 AND 11) The charging watercourse that carved the Grand Canyon ultimately becomes a quiet whisper of river winding through the tidal flats at the Sea of Cortes. Gathering the rainfall of seven states, the Colorado River and its tributaries carry the precious lifeblood of the Southwest: water that helped build its great cities and grow the crops to feed a nation. By the time the Colorado reaches the Sea of Cortes, insistent demands for its liquid bounty have left no evidence of its former glory. Here, in one last sublime flourish, the sinuous ribbon of river gives itself up to the sea. (RIGHT) The San Francisco River spills out of the White and Gila mountains near Arizona's eastern border.

little colorado river

rivers of arizona

(LEFT) The Bill Williams River flows through large and infrequently visited portions of western Arizona. Its channel provides miles of critical habitat for native fish, such as the longfin dace, and birds, including the southwest willow flycatcher, which could not otherwise survive in this high-desert environment. (RIGHT) The Salt River was one of the nation's first rivers to be dammed by the Bureau of Reclamation, when Roosevelt Dam was built just after the turn of the century. Three more dams were subsequently added, including Stewart Mountain Dam in the Goldfield Mountains, shown here, to provide reliable water supplies to the greater Phoenix area.

bill williams river

"FOR THE MOST PART, THE [BILL WILLIAMS] RIVER CHANNEL IS NARROW AND CONFINED BETWEEN ROCK WALLS IN THE PRECIPITOUS HILLS AND MOUNTAINS THROUGH WHICH IT CUTS. IN A FEW PLACES WHERE THE CHANNEL WIDENS AND FAIRLY BROAD PLAINS HAVE FORMED, A FEW ACRES OF LAND CAN BE FARMED."

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 1956

salt river

"THE SALT RIVER DRAINS A LARGE AREA OF COUNTRY, AND, NEXT TO THE COLORADO, CARRIES THE LARGEST VOLUME OF WATER OF ANY STREAM IN THE TERRITORY. AFTER LEAVING THE CAÑON IT FLOWS THROUGH THE RICHEST AND MOST EXTENSIVE BODY OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN ARIZONA."

PATRICK HAMILTON, 1884

paria river

"ON THE LAST DAY OF SEPTEMBER WE FOLLOW THE VERMILION CLIFFS AROUND TO THE MOUTH OF THE PARIA. HERE THE CLIFFS PRESENT A WALL OF ABOUT 2,000 FEET IN HEIGHT - ABOVE, ORANGE AND VERMILION, BUT BELOW, CHOCOLATE, PURPLE, AND GRAY IN ALTERNATING BANDS OF RAINBOW BRIGHTNESS. THE CLIFFS ARE CUT WITH DEEP SIDE CANYONS, AND THE RAINBOW HILLS BELOW ARE DESTITUTE OF VEGETATION."

rivers of arizona

(LEFT) The Paria River rises as a clear stream in the mountains surrounding Bryce Canyon National Park. It flows along the north flank of the Paria Plateau, a land constantly worn and worried by the force of powerful winds. Over time, dust and sands collect in the Paria's canyons, filling the river with sediment. These deposits are later added to the clear waters of the Colorado River at the Paria's confluence near Lees Ferry (below).

rivers of arizona little colorado river

"ABOUT A MILE BELOW THE LAST CAMP THE [LITTLE COLORADO] RIVER FALLS OVER A SUCCESSION OF HORIZONTAL LEDGES OF SANDSTONE, FORMING A BEAUTIFUL CASCADE OF ONE HUNDRED TO ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FEET IN VERTICAL HEIGHT, AND CONTINUES ON ITS COURSE THROUGH A CANON OF THAT DEPTH, THE GENERAL LEVEL OF THE BANKS REMAINING THE SAME."

CAPT. LORENZO SITGREAVES, OCTOBER 8, 1851

rivers of arizona san juan river

"THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF ITS COURSE THROUGH THE TABLE-LANDS, THE VALLEY OF THE SAN JUAN IS A NARROW TROUGH, BOUNDED BY ABRUPT, OFTEN PERPENDICULAR, ROCKY SIDES; ITS RICH AND VERDANT BOTTOM-LANDS FORMING A THREAD OF FERTILITY WHICH TRAVERSES A REGION ELSEWHERE ARID AND BARREN." PROF. J.S. NEWBERRY. 1859 (LEFT) The San Juan River parallels the tilted layers of Navajo sandstone that compose the Comb Ridge Monocline. Extending across Arizona's border with Utah, the monocline defines the course of the river as it winds its way to its former confluence with the Colorado at Lake Powell. Watercourses throughout the Four Corners area drain north to the San Juan.

rivers of arizona

(BELOW) Collected runoff carves feathery tendrils into the tidal flats near the mouth of the Colorado at the Sea of Cortes.

colorado river

"IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO MISTAKE THE ENTRANCE TO THE [COLORADO] RIVER, IT BEING IN FACT THE HEAD OF THE GULF, WHICH GRADUALLY NARROWS FROM FORTY TO THREE MILES WHEN IT IS JOINED BY THE RIVER, WHOSE TURBID STREAM DISCOLORS THE GULF FOR MANY MILES TO THE SOUTHWARD."

LT. GEORGE HORATIO DERBY, FEBRUARY 1, 1851