Colorado River (Texas)

The Colorado River is the 18th longest river in the United States. and the longest river with both its source and mouth within Texas; however its drainage basin and some of its usually dry tributaries do extend into New Mexico. The 862 mile long river flows generally southeast from Dawson County through Marble Falls, Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, Wharton, and Bay City before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay.

The Colorado River, which means "colored red", was frequently confused by Spanish explorers with the Brazos River to the north. It is this confusion as well as an alleged mapping error that is believed to have led to its misnaming. The river is an important source of water for farming, cities, and electrical power production. Major man-made reservoirs on the river include Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Collectively, these lakes are known as the Highland Lakes. In addition to power plants operating on each of the major lakes, waters of the Colorado are used for cooling the South Texas Nuclear Project, near Bay City. The Colorado River Municipal Water District owns and operates three reservoirs upstream of the Highland Lakes, Lake J. B. Thomas near Snyder, E. V. Spence Reservoir near Robert Lee, and O. H. Ivie Reservoir near Ballinger.

Flood control and use of the Colorado River is managed by two agencies established by the Texas Legislature, the Upper Colorado River Authority, and the Lower Colorado River Authority. There are 11 major reservoirs along the Colorado River.

The Colorado River also has made many geographic landmarks such as Deep Eddy Pool in Austin, Texas.

See also

• List of crossings of the Colorado River
• Colorado Bend State Park

Notes

External links

• Map of Texas's Colorado River
• Upper Colorado River Authority
• Lower Colorado River Authority

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Last updated on Saturday July 26, 2008 at 08:28:23 PDT (GMT -0700)
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