Editing Colorado River (section)

==Recreation==
[[Image:Colorado River Runners.jpg|thumb|alt=View of two small boats in a river, with high cliffs rising immediately behind them|A rafting party on the Colorado River]]
Famed for its dramatic rapids and canyons, the Colorado is one of the most well-known [[whitewater]] rivers in the United States, and its [[Grand Canyon]] section—run by more than 22,000 people annually<ref>{{cite news |author=Shorey, Ananda |agency=Associated Press |title=River May Be Getting More Rafters |newspaper=Deseret News |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600099792/River-may-be-getting-more-rafters.html |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |date=December 23, 2004 |access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210828124928/https://www.deseret.com/2004/12/23/19868098/river-may-be-getting-more-rafters |url-status=dead }}</ref>—has been called the "granddaddy of rafting trips".{{sfn|Blond|Dunford|Schulte-Peevers|2008|p=87}} Grand Canyon trips typically begin at [[Lee's Ferry]] and take out at [[Diamond Creek (Arizona)|Diamond Creek]] or [[Lake Mead]]; they range from one to eighteen days for commercial trips and from two to twenty-five days for private trips.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/whitewater-rafting.htm |title=River Trips/Permits |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |work=Grand Canyon National Park |date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2012 |archive-date=June 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629125453/http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/whitewater-rafting.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Private (noncommercial) trips are extremely difficult to arrange because the [[National Park Service]] limits river traffic for environmental purposes; people who desire such a trip often have to wait more than 10 years for the opportunity.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.azcentral.com/travel/parks/grandcanyon/articles/2006/06/09/20060609story-rafting-CR.html |title=Rafting the Colorado River Through the Grand Canyon |work=azcentral.com |author=Jones, Melissa L. |date=June 9, 2006 |access-date=February 23, 2012 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117184920/http://www.azcentral.com/travel/parks/grandcanyon/articles/2006/06/09/20060609story-rafting-CR.html?nclick_check=1 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several other sections of the river and its tributaries are popular whitewater runs, and many of these are also served by commercial outfitters. The Colorado's Cataract Canyon and many reaches in the Colorado headwaters are even more heavily used than the Grand Canyon, and about 60,000 boaters run a single {{convert|4.5|mi|km|adj=on}} section above [[Radium, Colorado]], each year.<ref name="uppercorapids"/> The upper Colorado also includes many of the river's most challenging rapids, including those in Gore Canyon, which is considered so dangerous that "boating is not recommended".<ref name="uppercorapids">{{cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/kfo/recreation_opportunities/rafting.html |title=Upper Colorado Special Recreation Management Area |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management |date=September 29, 2011 |access-date=March 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306135619/http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/kfo/recreation_opportunities/rafting.html |archive-date=March 6, 2012}}</ref> Another section of the river above Moab, known as the Colorado "Daily" or "Fisher Towers Section", is the most visited whitewater run in Utah, with more than 77,000 visitors in 2011 alone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ut/moab_fo/campgrounds/fee_accomplishment.Par.36998.File.dat/RecreationFeeAccountAccomplishmentsUT02Fy2011.pdf |title=Recreation Fee Account Accomplishments: Colorado River (Moab) |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management |access-date=May 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027155601/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ut/moab_fo/campgrounds/fee_accomplishment.Par.36998.File.dat/RecreationFeeAccountAccomplishmentsUT02Fy2011.pdf |archive-date=October 27, 2012}}</ref> The rapids of the Green River's Gray and [[Desolation Canyon|Desolation]] Canyons{{sfn|Powell|p=345|2003}} and the less difficult "[[Goosenecks State Park|Goosenecks]]" section of the lower San Juan River are also frequently traversed by boaters.{{sfn|Armstead|p=143|1997}}

Eleven U.S. national parks—Arches, [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park|Black Canyon of the Gunnison]], [[Bryce Canyon National Park|Bryce Canyon]], Canyonlands, [[Capitol Reef National Park|Capitol Reef]], Grand Canyon, [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]], [[Petrified Forest National Park|Petrified Forest]], [[Rocky Mountain National Park|Rocky Mountain]], [[Saguaro National Park|Saguaro]], and [[Zion National Park|Zion]]—are in the watershed, in addition to many national forests, state parks, and recreation areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.npca.org/about-us/center-for-park-research/colorado_river_basin/Colorado-River-Report.pdf |title=National Parks of the Colorado River Basin: Water Resources, Threats and Economics |publisher=National Parks Conservation Association |date=April 2011 |access-date=June 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709093215/http://www.npca.org/about-us/center-for-park-research/colorado_river_basin/Colorado-River-Report.pdf |archive-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref> Hiking, backpacking, camping, skiing, and fishing are among the multiple recreation opportunities offered by these areas. Fisheries have declined in many streams in the watershed, especially in the Rocky Mountains, because of polluted runoff from mining and agricultural activities.<ref>{{cite web |author=Driver, Nancy E. |url=http://co.water.usgs.gov/nawqa/ucol/html/ofr_94_397_p16.html |title=Effects of Mining on Water Quality in Upper Colorado River Basin |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |work=National Water-Quality Assessment Program – Upper Colorado River Basin Study Unit |date=April 15, 2013 |access-date=June 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919054025/http://co.water.usgs.gov/nawqa/ucol/html/ofr_94_397_p16.html |archive-date=September 19, 2015}}</ref> The Colorado's major reservoirs are also heavily traveled summer destinations. Houseboating and water-skiing are popular activities on Lakes Mead, Powell, Havasu, and Mojave, as well as [[Flaming Gorge Reservoir]] in Utah and Wyoming, and [[Navajo Reservoir]] in New Mexico and Colorado. Lake Powell and surrounding [[Glen Canyon National Recreation Area]] received more than two&nbsp;million visitors per year in 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/glca/parknews/upload/Expanded%20Action%20Plan.pdf |title=Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Expanded Zebra Mussel Action Plan |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |work=Glen Canyon National Recreation Area |access-date=February 23, 2012 |archive-date=September 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916200101/http://www.nps.gov/glca/parknews/upload/Expanded%20Action%20Plan.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> while nearly 7.9&nbsp;million people visited Lake Mead and the [[Lake Mead National Recreation Area]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/lake/parknews/lake-mead-proves-popular-during-economic-downturn.htm |title=Lake Mead Proves Popular During Economic Downturn |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |work=Lake Mead National Recreation Area |date=February 5, 2009 |access-date=February 23, 2012 |archive-date=September 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912062847/http://www.nps.gov/lake/parknews/lake-mead-proves-popular-during-economic-downturn.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Colorado River recreation employs some 250,000 people and contributes $26&nbsp;billion each year to the Southwest economy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865584776/Worst-Colorado-River-drought-in-century-prompts-feds-to-cut-releases-from-Lake-Powell.html?pg=all |author=O'Donoghue, Amy Joi |title=Worst Colorado River drought in century prompts feds to cut releases from Lake Powell |work=Deseret News |date=August 16, 2013 |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020213/https://www.deseret.com/2013/8/16/20524101/worst-colorado-river-drought-in-century-prompts-feds-to-cut-releases-from-lake-powell |url-status=dead}}</ref>