Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Colorado River

Colorado River

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the TFAR nomination of the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new TFAR nom underneath.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/October 14, 2014 by BencherliteTalk 05:20, 7 October 2014 (UTC)



The Colorado River is the principal river of the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. Rising in the western Rocky Mountains, the 1450 mi river drains a vast arid region of the Colorado Plateau and the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, forming a large delta as it empties into the Gulf of California. Known for its dramatic scenery and its whitewater, the Colorado carves numerous gorges, including the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. For 8,000 years, the Colorado Basin was only sparsely populated by Native Americans, though some of their ancient civilizations employed advanced irrigation techniques. Even after becoming part of the U.S. in the 1800s, the Colorado River country remained extremely remote until John Wesley Powell's 1869 river-running expedition, which began to open up the river for future development. Since the completion of Hoover Dam in 1935, the Colorado has been tamed by an extensive system of dams and canals, providing for irrigation, cities, and hydropower. Today the Colorado supports 40 million people in seven U.S. and two Mexican states; with every drop of its water allocated, it no longer reaches the sea except in years of heavy runoff.
 * Most recent similar article(s): Nothing in the past 4 months as I checked. As an active WP:RIVERS participant the last one I remember making the main page was Willamette River last year.
 * Main editors: Shannon1
 * Promoted: July 2013
 * Reasons for nomination: This is my first TFAR; promoted to FA in July 2013, it was a Good Article for more than a year preceding that. It's an exceptionally important river verging on crisis; Level 4 vital article; I don't believe a River article has been featured for quite some time.
 * Support as nominator. Shann  o  n  05:03, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
 * As someone else is bound to ask if this runs - 6 paragraphs in the lead? WP:LEADLENGTH says 4 is the usual maximum; and if I read WP:SIZERULE correctly, it suggests that an article with 70,000+ characters probably ought to be split / more use of summary style for sub-articles. I know this is the 16th-longest FA, but Metalloid (no.4 on that list) has a lead of 349 words compared to this article's 710 words. Thoughts? BencherliteTalk 13:01, 2 October 2014 (UTC)s
 * I could try to reduce the length of the lead; also the article is already split (e.g. Course of the Colorado River, Dams in the Colorado River system, List of tributaries of the Colorado River). Shann  o  n  13:34, 2 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Comment FYI, the blurb has over 1300 characters, about one sentence over the 1200 character/space limit that they asked for. Prhartcom (talk) 13:41, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Odd, I put the blurb into a text editor and it came out at 1,204 characters. I could try to trim it down a bit more but I'm pretty sure it hits the limit.
 * I brought it down about 100 characters if that helps. It now stands at 1,106; if that's still too long, tell me. Shann  o  n  16:42, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
 * It's currently at 1221 characters (they want us to include spaces). Here is a great tool if you'd like (sorry about the fushia color). (Understand I am just another TFA editor; standing in line on this page just like you; I just wanted to help by pointing out this possible issue.) Cheers. Prhartcom (talk) 19:23, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Your blurb looks good now! Cheers. Prhartcom (talk) 00:10, 3 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Support. Certainly an encyclopedic addition to the main page. Prhartcom (talk) 19:23, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Support as a minor contributor to preparing the article for FAC. This is a very important topic with a comprehensive article that needs to be on the Main Page. Jsayre64 (talk) 02:01, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Support, and may I say stunning photo, as well. Cheers, &mdash; Cirt (talk) 04:36, 4 October 2014 (UTC)