Colorado River (Texas)

Colorado River
Colorado River
	Colorado River in Austin as seen from Mount Bonnell
	Map of the Colorado River and associated watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Texas
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Dawson County
• coordinates	32°40′47″N 101°43′51″W / 32.67972°N 101.73083°W
• elevation	2,860 ft (870 m)
Mouth	Matagorda Bay
• location	Gulf of Mexico, at Matagorda County, Texas
• coordinates	28°35′41″N 95°58′59″W / 28.59472°N 95.98306°W
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	862 mi (1,387 km)
Basin size	39,900 sq mi (103,000 km2)
Discharge
• location	Bay City
• average	2,609 cu ft/s (73.9 m3/s)
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
• maximum	84,100 cu ft/s (2,380 m3/s)

The Colorado River is an approximately 862-mile-long (1,387 km) river^[5] in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the 11th longest river in the United States^[5] and the longest river with both its source and its mouth within Texas.^[6]

Its drainage basin and some of its usually dry tributaries extend into New Mexico. It flows generally southeast from Dawson County through Ballinger, Marble Falls, Lago Vista, Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, Wharton, and Bay City, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay.^[6]

^ ^a ^b "Colorado River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ Sand Creek, TX, 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1970 (1974 rev.)
^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.
^ Clay, Comer; Kleiner, Diana J. (1999-02-15). "Colorado River". The Handbook of Texas Online. The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2006-07-22.
^ ^a ^b Kammerer, J. C. (1987). Largest Rivers in the United States (Report). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2006-07-15.
^ ^a ^b Clay, Comer; Kleiner, Diana J. (1999-02-15). "Colorado River". The Handbook of Texas Online. The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2006-07-22.

[GNIS-1] "Colorado River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.

[2] Sand Creek, TX, 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1970 (1974 rev.)

[GE-3] Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.

[colorado_river_tx_handbook-4] Clay, Comer; Kleiner, Diana J. (1999-02-15). "Colorado River". The Handbook of Texas Online. The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2006-07-22.

[usgs-5] Kammerer, J. C. (1987). Largest Rivers in the United States (Report). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2006-07-15.

[TXhandbook-6] Clay, Comer; Kleiner, Diana J. (1999-02-15). "Colorado River". The Handbook of Texas Online. The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2006-07-22.

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