Hydrology of the Lower Colorado River - Past and present

A fundamental issue in the design of habitat restoration concepts on the Lo wer Colorado River (LCR) is the availability of water and the feasibility o f restoring some aspects of the natural annual hydrograph to selected sites . Historic and current flows in the LCR were examined as part of the study "Synthesis Report of Ecological Restoration Concepts for the LCR" (U.S. Bur eau of Reclamation, 1999) Another important issue in the design considerati ons is the change in sediment characteristics. Although not a huge river in terms of discharge, the LCR historically carried huge sediment loads. Beca use of the LCR dams the sediment load in the LCR is less than 1/1000 of the historic amount.