Rio Grande
Encyclopedia : R : RI : RIO : Rio Grande
- This article is about the river that empties into the Gulf of Mexico. See Rio Grande (disambiguation) and Río Bravo (disambiguation) for other meanings.
Known as the Rio Grande in the United States and as the Río Bravo (or, more formally, the Río Bravo del Norte) in Mexico, the river, 1,885 mi (3,034 km) long, is the 4th longest river in the United States. It rises in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, USA, flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into New Mexico through Albuquerque and Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas, on the U.S.–Mexico border. A major tributary, Rio Conchos, enters from Mexico at Presidio, below El Paso and supplies most of the water in the 1,254 mi (2,019 km) Texas border segment.
The river has, since 1845, marked the boundary between Mexico and the United States from the twin cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to the Gulf of Mexico. As such, it was across this river that Texan slaves fled when seeking their freedom, aided by Mexico's liberal colonization policies and abolitionist stance. (See [link] (PDF).)
The major international border crossings along the river are Ciudad Juárez and El Paso; Laredo, Texas, Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Chihuahua; and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas; McAllen-Hidalgo, Texas, and Reynosa, Tamaulipas; and Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros. Other notable border towns are the Texas/Coahuila pairings of Del Rio–Ciudad Acuña and Eagle Pass–Piedras Negras.
The US and Mexico share the waters of this river under a series of agreements administered by the joint US-Mexico Boundary and Water Commission. The most notable of these were signed in 1906 and 1944.
Use of that belonging to the US is regulated by the Rio Grande Compact, an interstate pact between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. The Rio Grande is over-appropriated, that is, there are more users for the water than there is water in the river. Because of both drought and overuse the section from El Paso downstream through Ojinaga was recently tagged "The Forgotten River" by those wishing to bring attention to the river's deteriorated condition. Ecologists fear that unless rainfall returns to normal levels during the next few years and strict water conservation measures are adopted by communities along the river, the Rio Grande may soon become extinct.
The Rio Grande rises in high mountains and flows for much of its length at high elevation; El Paso is 3762 ft (1147 m) above sea level. In New Mexico, the river flows through the Rio Grande Rift from one sediment-filled basin to another, cutting canyons between the basins and supporting a fragile bosque ecosystem in its floodplain. From El Paso eastward the river flows through desert. Only in the sub-tropical lower Rio Grande Valley is there extensive irrigated agriculture. The river ends in a small sandy delta at the Gulf of Mexico. During periods of extended dry weather, the river will actually cease flowing into the Gulf.
Millions of years ago, the Rio Grande ended at the bottom of the Rio Grande Rift in Lake Cabeza de Vaca. But about 1 million years ago the stream was "captured" and began to flow east.
The Rio Grande was designated as one of the American Heritage Rivers in 1997.
Names and Pronunciation
Río Grande is Spanish for "Great River" and Río Grande del Norte means "Great Northern River" (literally "Great River of the North"). Rio Grande is pronounced either /ree-oh grænd/ or /ree-oh grænd-ee/ (where the last syllable of "grand" rhymes with the American pronunciation of "hand") by English speakers. The phrase "Rio Grande River" is redundant.Literature
- Paul Horgan, Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History. Vol. 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the United States. 2 Vols. in 1, 1038 pages - Wesleyan University Press 1991, 4th Reprint, ISBN 0819562513
See also
- Rio Grande border disputes
- List of crossings of the Rio Grande
- List of Colorado rivers
- List of New Mexico rivers
- List of Texas rivers
- Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
- Rio Grande Valley
- Rio Grande Gorge
External links
- [Rio Grande] from the Handbook of Texas Online
- [1854 map of Rio Grande entrance] (hosted by the [Portal to Texas History]).
References
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