Colorado River (Texas)
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The Colorado River is the 18th longest river in the United States. The 862 mile long river — 600 miles of which flows through Texas — 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.
The Colorado River, allegedly misnamed because of a mapping error by early Spanish explorers, 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 Town 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 three agencies established by the Texas Legislature, the Upper Colorado River Authority, Central Colorado River Authority, and Lower Colorado River Authority.
External links
- [Colorado River] from the Handbook of Texas Online
References
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