Colorado River as 2 billion years. The of the river that flow through the Grand Canyon are largely encompassed by Grand Canyon National Park and are known for their difficult whitewater, separated by pools that reach up to in depth. At the lower end of Grand Canyon, the Colorado widens into Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the continental United States, formed by Hoover Dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada. Situated southeast of metropolitan Las Vegas, the dam is an integral component for management of the Colorado River, controlling floods and storing water for farms and cities in the lower
Risks to the Glen Canyon Dam Risks to the Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in the American state of Arizona, has been associated with a large amount of risk, most notably the risk of its siltation and failure. Because of high silt content carried in by the Colorado and San Juan rivers, Lake Powell is gradually filling with sediment, decreasing its capacity; eventually the sediment will build up against the dam and affect its safe operation. The dam, anchored in unstable Navajo sandstone (sometimes said to be "solidified sand dunes"), nearly failed in 1983 as the result