Gila River
A river rising in the mountains of western New Mexico and flowing about 1,014 km (630 mi) generally westward across southern Arizona to the Colorado River at Yuma in the southwest corner of the state.
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A river rising in the mountains of western New Mexico and flowing about 1,014 km (630 mi) generally westward across southern Arizona to the Colorado River at Yuma in the southwest corner of the state.
For more information on Gila River, visit Britannica.com.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a river that rises in western New Mexico and flows westward through southern Arizona to become a tributary of the Colorado River
Synonym: Gila
| Gila River | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sierra County, New Mexico |
| Mouth | Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona |
| Basin countries | United States, Mexico |
| Length | 649 mi (1,044 km) [1] |
| Mouth elevation | 118 ft (36 m) [1] |
The Gila /'hilə/ River (O'odham [Pima]: Hila Akimel) is a tributary of the Colorado River, 649 mile (1,044 km) long, in the southwestern United States.
It rises in western New Mexico, in Sierra County on the western slope of continental divide in the Black Range. It flows southwest to the Gila National Forest and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, then westward into Arizona, past the city of Safford, and along the southern slope of the Gila Mountains. It emerges from the mountains into the valley southeast of Phoenix, where it crosses the Gila River Indian Reservation as an intermittent stream, due to its use as a water source. West of Phoenix, it turns abruptly southward along the Gila Bend Mountains, then abruptly westward again near the town of Gila Bend, Arizona. It flows southwestward and joins the Colorado near Yuma, Arizona.
The Gila is one of the largest desert rivers in the world. It and its chief tributary, the Salt River, would both be perennial streams carrying large volumes of water, but irrigation and municipal water diversions turn both into largely dry rivers. Below Phoenix to the Colorado River, the Gila is largely a trickle or dry, as is the lower Salt from Granite Reef Diversion Dam downstream to the Gila. The natural mean flow of the Gila is 6130 ft³/s (174 m³/s) at its mouth with the Colorado. The Gila used to be navigable by small craft from its mouth to near the Arizona - New Mexico border. The width varied from 150 - 1200 feet with a depth from 2 - 40 feet.
After the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, the river served as a portion of the border between the United States and Mexico until the 1853 Gadsden Purchase extended U.S. territory south of the Gila. The confluence of the Gila with the Colorado river was also used as a reference point for the southern border of California.
The Gila River is dammed by the Coolidge Dam 31 miles east of Globe, AZ.
A band of Pima (autonym "Akimel O'odham", river people), the Hila Akimel O'odham (Gila River People), have lived on the banks of the Gila River since before the arrival of Spanish explorers. Popular theory says that the word Gila was derived from a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-sa-eel, a Yuma Indian word meaning "running water which is salty".[2]
Their traditional way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English as Him-dak) was and is centered at the river, which is considered holy. Traditionally, sand from the banks of the river is used as an exfoliant when bathing (often in rainstorms, especially during the monsoon).
In the Gila River Indian Community, the traditional way of life has
generally been better preserved than in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa
Indian Community. Some speculate this may be due to the fact that the Gila River, a central aspect of the traditional way
of life, still flows through the reservation year-round (although at times as an intermittent stream), while the Salt River does
not.[citation needed]
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Gila River has also been known as:[1]
| Colorado River system | |
|---|---|
| Dams and aqueducts (see US Bureau of Reclamation) |
Shadow Mountain Dam • Granby Dam • Glen Canyon Dam • Hoover Dam • Davis Dam • Parker Dam • Palo Verde Diversion Dam • Imperial Dam • Laguna Dam • Morelos Dam • Colorado River Aqueduct • San Diego Aqueduct • Central Arizona Project Aqueduct • All-American Canal • Coachella Canal • Redwall Dam |
| Natural features |
Colorado River • Rocky Mountains • Colorado River Basin • Grand Lake • Sonoran desert • Mojave desert • Imperial Valley • Colorado Plateau • Grand Canyon • Black Canyon • Glen Canyon • Marble Canyon • New River • Paria Canyon • Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez • Salton Sea |
| Tributaries |
Dirty Devil River • Dolores River • Escalante River • Gila River • Green River • Gunnison River • Kanab Creek • Little Colorado River • Paria River • San Juan River • Virgin River |
| Major reservoirs | |
| Dependent states |
Arizona • California • Colorado • Nevada • New Mexico • Utah (See: Colorado River Compact) |
| Designated areas | |
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![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
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