COLORADO RIVER (TEXAS)

The 'Colorado River' is the 18th longest river in the United States.^[1] 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 river¹ flows generally southeast from Dawson County through Marble Falls, Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, and Bay City before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay.^[2]
The Colorado River, which means "colored red", was frequently confused with the not too distant to the north Brazos River by early Spanish explorers.² 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 Marble Falls, Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, 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.
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.^[3]
The Colorado River also has made many geographic landmarks such as Deep Eddy Pool in Austin, Texas.

Contents

See also

Notes

External links

See also

★ List of crossings of the Colorado River (Texas)

Notes

1.
2. Colorado River
3. River Basin Map of Texas

External links

★

★ Map of Texas's Colorado River

★ Upper Colorado River Authority

★ Lower Colorado River Authority