Essay About Result Of A Natural Flood And Colorado River

Let the River Run
Essay title: Let the River Run
Things occur in nature, that we as humans sometimes prevent from occurring naturally.
For example – a dam on a river. Once put into use on a river, a dam simply stops or slows
down the natural flow of the water. Sometimes this is for the better, however – sometimes,
it is for the worse. This is the case in the Grand Canyon. Some rivers go through natural,
periods of flooding and receding, at certain times of the year, or in occurrence with other
geographical events. For the first time in thirty years, in March 1996, flood waters rages
through the Grand Canyon. However, this was not the result of a natural flood. The
Colorado River would experience this same type of man made flood, naturally. These
floods would occur every year during winter and spring rains. This water has been
released from an upstream dam. The dam was put into action in 1963. Since then, years of
environmental damage have been adding up. Dams have been on the river for nearly a
century – however, none were upstream of the Grand Canyon until this one was built in
1963.
Rivers have a number of processes involved in their everyday activities that allow
themselves and the land around them to flourish. When the flow of a river is disrupted, so
are these processes. Rivers carry sediments. Along with carrying these sediments, they
also deposit them, usually onto surrounding land areas. This deposition occurs when the
flow of the water slows down. The amount of sediment a river is carrying generally gives
color to it’s appearance. Before this dam was built, the Colorado River possessed a
cloudy, rust color. Now, when the water is stopped at this dam, over 90 percent of it’s
sediment is dropped. As a result – this gives the river a crystal clear appearance. Another
result of the lack of sediment, is the beach erosion that is occurring. Some beaches have
eroded to over half of their original size. This erosion is happening because the beaches
depended on the annual floods to bring them a continuous supply of fresh, fine sand. The
dam is trapping a majority of the sand. There are small tributary rivers that flow
uninhibited