Central Arizona Project Canal Origin, Arizona

The point of origin of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) is where the Granite Reef Aqueduct draws water from the Colorado River. CAP is a water supply system for the farms and cities of central Arizona, consisting of a 337-mile aqueduct that brings water from this point on Lake Havasu to Phoenix and Tucson. Conceived of in the 1960s, the $4.4 billion project was designed to support development and to help the state use up its allotment of Colorado River water, before California and Nevada took it away. Completed in 1994, the system brings water across the hottest desert in the country in open aqueducts.