The Colorado River

The Colorado river is 1400 miles long and historically has carried a very large silt an sediment load. The result is red or muddy water. The old saying from back in the mid 1800’s from frontier settlers moving west and looking for water was that the Colorado river was, “Too thick to drink, but too thin to plow.” Today, depending on the time of year, travelers visiting the Grand Canyon may look over the edge and see a red river (typical during the Monsoon season of July -September) or a green river (typical during the dry seasons of May and June.