Rio Grande
Known as the Rio Grande in the
United States and as the Ro Bravo in
Mexico, the
river, 1,885
mi long, is the fourth longest river in the United States.or=J.C. Kammerer
|title=Largest Rivers in the United States
|publisher=
United States Geological Survey
|date=May 1990
|url=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.
Encyclopedia
Known as the
Rio Grande in the
United States and as the
Río Bravo in
Mexico, the
river, 1,885
mi long, is the fourth longest river in the United States.
Description
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 Texas border segment. Other known tributaries include the
Pecos and the smaller Devils, which join the Rio Grande on the site of Amistad Dam. Despite its name and length, the Rio Grande is not navigable at all by oceangoing ships, nor are there smaller craft using it as a route.
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.
The major international border crossings along the river are Ciudad Juárez and El Paso;
Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Chihuahua;
Laredo, Texas 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 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 "Big River" and
Río Grande del Norte means "Great Northern River" . Rio Grande is pronounced either /ree-oh grænd/ or /ree-oh grænd-ee/ 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 0-8195-6251-3
See also
...
External links
References
