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Show PART II DESCRIPTION The Great Divide Closed Basin does not contribute to the water resources of the region except for a small amount of internal use. The Colorado River rises near the extreme eastern part of the Region at an altitude of 13,000 feet, and flows generally southwest- ward to Lee Ferry where the altitude is about 3,100 feet. Main river channels are deeply entrenched in solid rock canyons in Utah and Arizona. The mostly barren and largely inaccessible areas provide very little opportunity or need for diversions from the rivers, and in this reach most of the depletion is through evaporation from the water surfaces. It is a region of intense interest to the people of the United States, being a land of spectacular beauty, breath-taking scenery, and majestic natural rock formations, attracting many tourists, adventurers, and naturalists. The wild canyons of the Colorado, Green, San Juan, and Yampa Rivers have presented a challenge to thrill-seeking boatsmen since the first expeditions of Major John Wesley Powell in 1869 and 1872. Spring snowmelt |