Notable examples include the 1965 Denver Flood,[59] the Big Thompson River flooding of 1976 and the 2013 Colorado floods. Water plays an important part of local Ridgway culture. The second most populous county is the City and County of Denver, the state capital. Colorado is home to two designated American Viticultural Areas of the Grand Valley AVA and the West Elks AVA,[177] where most of the vineyards in the state are located. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. But you have to look at all the characteristics of the Plateau. No. Results of the Regional A, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192, Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Region 12: Pacific Islands (American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers, Regional Groundwater Availability Studies, North and South Carolina Atlantic Coastal Plain, Pennsylvanian and Mississippian Aquifers of the Appalachian Plateaus, Groundwater, Aquifers, Wells, and Springs, Minor aquifers, confining units, and areas identified as "not a principal aquifer", Principal aquifers [of the United States]. It is primarily an explosivedacitevolcano. Most recent eruption:1980, 2004-2008 Examples of Hills Around the World. [41] Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are the only states that have their borders defined solely by straight boundary lines with no natural features. The Ethiopian Plateau, on which Precambrian rocks crop out, stands high because the underlying lithosphere has been heated, but Cenozoic volcanic rocks cover much of the plateau, especially those areas that are the flattest. The differences among plateaus can be ascribed to the different geologic processes that have created them. The new and modified dams constructed as part of the project were declared substantially complete in 1994. Colorado has significant hydrocarbon resources. The Cherry Hills Country Club has hosted several professional golf tournaments, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Women's Open, PGA Championship and BMW Championship. Coloradans have elected 17 Democrats and 12 Republicans to the governorship in the last 100 years. [196] DIA handles by far the largest volume of commercial air traffic in Colorado and is the busiest U.S. hub airport between Chicago and the Pacific coast, making Denver the most important airport for connecting passenger traffic in the western United States. The home public high school is Monarch High School in neighboring Louisville. Climate is the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area. "[8] This act provided for the US Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with non-federal interests, whereby the US federal government acquired the right to 24.3 percent of the power produced at the non-federal Navajo Generating Station, Navajo Project. The North Park is drained by the North Platte River, which flows north into Wyoming and Nebraska. The first ignition point was a shed that began to burn at approximately 11:30AM MST, 30 December 2021. A survey in 1982 gave a measurement of 2549.7 m (8365 ft). People of Hispanic and Latino American (of any race made) heritage made up 20.7% of the population. In the 17th century, the Arapaho and Cheyenne moved west from the Great Lakes region to hunt across the High Plains of Colorado and Wyoming. Ridgway began as a railroad town, serving the nearby mining towns of Telluride and Ouray. The most popular college sports program is the University of Colorado Buffaloes, who used to play in the Big-12 but now play in the Pac-12. The racial makeup of the town was 95.5% White, 0.1% (1) African American, 0.6% (6) Native American, 0.8% (7) Asian, 0.8% (7) from other races, and 1.8% (17) from two or more races. And the Marshall Fire which started on December 30, 2021, while not the largest in state history, was the most destructive ever in terms of property loss (see Marshall Fire). Colorado is one of the most educated, developed, and wealthiest states, ranking 3rd in percentage of population 25 and over with a bachelor's degree and 8th in percentage of population 25 and over with an advanced degree, 9th on the American Human Development Index, 8th in per capita income and 9th in median household income. New unpublished data on the timing for Mount St. Helens eruptive activity have been analyzed, which improves some of the eruption dates cited in published literature. However, conservation efforts succeeded in bring the stable population back up to roughly 66,000 by 2013. Interstate25 (I-25) is the primary north-south highway in the state, connecting Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins, and extending north to Wyoming and south to New Mexico. Instead, the Compromise of 1850 divided the Mexican Cession and the northwestern claims of Texas into a new state and two new territories, the state of California, the Territory of New Mexico, and the Territory of Utah. Crustal shortening, which thickens the crust as described above, has created high mountains along what are now the margins of such plateaus. Grand Junction is also along the major railroad of the Western Slope, the Union Pacific. The project was envisioned to provide water to nearly one million acres (405,000 hectares) of irrigated agricultural land areas in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties, as well as municipal water for several Arizona communities, including the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson. There is a notable wildlife presence mountain lions, badgers, deer, elk, bears, coyotes, wild turkey, and bald eagles are indigenous to the area. To narrow your search area: type in an address or place name, enter coordinates or click the map to define your search area (for advanced map tools, view the help documentation), and/or choose a date range. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado, and into Cheyenne County, Kansas, is the lowest point in Colorado at 3,317 feet (1,011m) elevation. How solid is your knowledge of all things geological? From Golden came Coors beer in 1873, CoorsTek industrial ceramics in 1920, and Jolly Rancher candy in 1949. Composition:Basalt to Rhyodacite Real estate and personal business property are taxable in Colorado. The Sherbino building went on to be used as a community center. The Confederacy made no further attempts to seize the Southwestern United States. Mount St. Helens is primarily an explosivedacitevolcano with a complex magmatic system. While many gold seekers held sympathies for the Confederacy, the vast majority remained fiercely loyal to the Union cause. Colorado (/klrdo, -rdo/ (listen), other variants)[7][8][9] is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. [174] With wines made from traditional Vitis vinifera grapes along with wines made from cherries, peaches, plums and honey, Colorado wines have won top national and international awards for their quality. Mount St. Helens is primarily an explosive dacite volcano with a complex magmatic system. The 30 highest major summits of the Rocky Mountains of North America are all within the state. Men's and women's gymnastics both compete in the, Rifle, which at Air Force is a coeducational sport, competes in the, Men's soccer and women's swimming & diving compete in the, Men's and women's indoor track & field compete in the, Skiing, a coeducational sport with men's and women's squads, competes in the, Men's and women's lacrosse compete in the, Women's swimming & diving competes in the, This page was last edited on 8 November 2022, at 04:04. The 2020 United States census enumerated the population of Colorado at 5,773,714, an increase of 14.80% since the 2010 United States census.[10]. Colorado has the 5th-largest population of Mexican-Americans, behind California, Texas, Arizona, and Illinois. Above this tree line only alpine vegetation grows. There are also a number of established film festivals in Colorado, including Aspen Shortsfest, Boulder International Film Festival, Castle Rock Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Festivus Film Festival, Mile High Horror Film Festival, Moondance International Film Festival, Mountainfilm in Telluride, Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, and Telluride Film Festival. [204] On April 1, 1924, armed students patrolled the campus after a burning cross was found, the climax of tensions between Regis College and the locally-powerful Ku Klux Klan. Among the positive contributing factors is the state's well-known outdoor recreation opportunities and initiatives. The county's highest point is the summit of Wheeler Peak at 13,161 feet (4,011 m). Conventional and unconventional natural gas output from several Colorado basins typically account for more than five percent of annual U.S. natural gas production. After a year as a Prospective District, on June 26, 2013, Colorado Creative Industries and the Boettcher Foundation announced that the Ridgway Creative District had achieved State-Certified Creative District Designation. [3][4], The canal loses approximately 16,000 acre-feet (5.2 billion gallons) of water each year to evaporation, a figure that will only increase as temperatures rise. Semiconsolidated aquifers consist of semiconsolidated sand interbedded with silt, clay, and minor carbonate rocks Sandstone aquifers are more widespread than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. The Grand Canyon is carved out of the Colorado Plateau by the Colorado River. "[9] Land around the reservoir became the Ridgway State Park north of town limits. Colorado (/ k l r d o,- r d o / (), other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States.It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains.Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. Mining was the major force in Superior's history until the Industrial Mine closed in 1945. Construction of the other project features, such as the New Waddell Dam, followed. https://www.britannica.com/science/plateau-landform, plateau - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Colorado currently has two consolidated city and county governments, 61 home rule cities, 12 statutory cities, 35 home rule towns, 161 statutory towns, and one territorial charter municipality. This "Gateway to the San Juans" position was recognized over 100 years ago when the Rio Grande Southern established Ridgway as a railhead center servicing the nearby mining towns of Ouray and Telluride. Colonel Pike and his men were arrested by Spanish cavalrymen in the San Luis Valley the following February, taken to Chihuahua, and expelled from Mexico the following July. Thus, plateaus built by crustal shortening are really mountain ranges buried in their own debris. Denver International Airport (DIA) is the third-busiest domestic U.S. and international airport in the world by passenger traffic. The volcano was formed during four eruptive stages beginning about 275,000 years ago and has been the most active volcano in the Cascade Range during the Holocene. [82] The population was estimated to have reached 85,000 by 2019 and had increasingly more run-ins with the increased suburban housing along the eastern Front Range. Estes model rockets were launched in Penrose in 1958. [52] On the plains, the winter lows usually range from 25 to 10F (4 to 23C). Threat Potential:Very High*. According to the Colorado statute, the SCFD distributes the money to local organizations on an annual basis. In the north, on the east side of the Continental Divide is the North Park of Colorado. Boulder was named America's Foodiest Town 2010 by Bon Apptit. Location of Superior in Boulder County and Jefferson County, Colorado, This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties, Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO Combined Statistical Area, Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, "State of Colorado Marshall Fire information", "How big was the Marshall Fire? The State of Colorado is divided into 64 counties. As directed by statute, SCFD recipient organizations are currently divided into three "tiers" among which receipts are allocated by percentage. Tier II receives 21%. During the 1940s, certain communitiesincluding Naturita and Paradoxearned the moniker of "yellowcake towns" from their relationship with uranium mining. The climate of Colorado is more complex than states outside of the Mountain States region. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. In 1870, the Bishop George Maxwell Randall of the Episcopal Missionary District of Colorado and Parts Adjacent opened the first of what become the Colorado University Schools which would include the Territorial School of Mines opened in 1873 and sold to the Colorado Territory in 1874. The town is a former railroad stop on the Uncompahgre River in the northern San Juan Mountains. Colorado is the least populous state with a franchise in each of the major professional sports leagues. This website compiles USGS resources and data related to principal aquifers including Aquifer Basics, principal aquifers maps and GIS data, and the National Aquifer Code Reference List. The simplest of these is thermal expansion of the lithosphere (or the replacement of cold mantle lithosphere by hot asthenosphere). [159], Corn in grown in the Eastern Plains of Colorado. Subterranean water is generally accessed through artesian wells. The incident has since spawned many copycat incidents. The "Front Range" includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley, and other townships and municipalities in between. Having lost the supplies for their campaign and finding little support in New Mexico, the Texans abandoned Santa Fe and returned to San Antonio in defeat. Judaism was also reported to have increased in this separate study, forming 2% of the religious landscape, while the religiously unaffiliated were reported to form 28% of the population at this separate study. In 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad laid its tracks west to Weir, now Julesburg, in the northeast corner of the Territory. The gold seekers organized the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson on August 24, 1859, but this new territory failed to secure approval from the Congress of the United States embroiled in the debate over slavery. The federal government operates several federal facilities in the state, including NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), United States Air Force Academy, Schriever Air Force Base located approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Peterson Air Force Base, and Fort Carson, both located in Colorado Springs within El Paso County; NOAA, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder; U.S. Geological Survey and other government agencies at the Denver Federal Center near Lakewood; the Denver Mint, Buckley Space Force Base, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Denver; and a federal Supermax Prison and other federal prisons near Caon City. Males had a median income of $31,597 versus $26,250 for females. On September 11, 1957, a plutonium fire occurred at the Rocky Flats Plant, which resulted in the significant plutonium contamination of surrounding populated areas. The Town of Carbonate has had no year-round population since the 1890 census due to its severe winter weather and difficult access. Several Air Force teams participate in other conferences, or as independents, in sports that the MW does not sponsor: Several Colorado teams participate in other conferences in sports that the Pac-12 does not sponsor: Several Denver teams participate in other conferences in sports that The Summit League does not sponsor: Several Northern Colorado teams participate in other conferences in sports that the Big Sky does not sponsor: Colorado College has two Division I programs. The 456 billion gallons (1.4 million acre feet) of water is lifted by up to 2,900 feet by 14 pumps using 2.5 million MWh of electricity each year, making CAP the largest power user in Arizona. [16][17] The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major migration route that was important to the spread of early peoples throughout the Americas. The Colorado River flows through Glenwood Canyon, and then through an arid valley made up of desert from Rifle to Parachute, through the desert canyon of De Beque Canyon, and into the arid desert of Grand Valley, where the city of Grand Junction is located.