"Agua Moderna | The Colorado River of Texas"
31 images Created 28 Aug 2009
There are two Colorado Rivers in this world.
There is the Colorado that everyone knows, having carved its way through millennia of rock to create the grandest of canyons. Now, perhaps, it is more famous for its fragile utility. The vein--from which farms, cities, and industries of the desert southwest suck their blue blood--is in dire shape. Its waters, allocated long ago among seven parched states, no longer complete their natural course; they dwindle to a trickle somewhere in the Sonoran Desert and cease to exist before they reach the Sea of Cortez.
This overuse is not particularly unique among America's rivers; this is modern water.
Then, there is the other Colorado; it carves its way entirely through Texas. So far, its waters still flow to the Gulf of Mexico. But for how long? As with its more renowned cousin, many straws draw from this drink. Texans have a peculiar definition of conservation: in order to conserve water, they use water, lest it be wasted by flowing past downstream. So, Texans infiltrate their Colorado River--utilitarian consumption.
Still, this is not terribly unique; this is modern water.
Texas's Colorado River, like all great rivers, is so many things to so many people. Its course and its waters support population growth, represent economic security, and offer recreational opportunity. This river transforms as it flows from the reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes, to the Austin waterfront of Town Lake, to the twists and curves of Bastrop County, the irrigation canals of rice country, and the estuarine marshes of Matagorda Bay. Water--this Colorado River--brings life, and money, and people to the landscape.
This is not at all unique. This is just modern water, another Colorado River.
There is the Colorado that everyone knows, having carved its way through millennia of rock to create the grandest of canyons. Now, perhaps, it is more famous for its fragile utility. The vein--from which farms, cities, and industries of the desert southwest suck their blue blood--is in dire shape. Its waters, allocated long ago among seven parched states, no longer complete their natural course; they dwindle to a trickle somewhere in the Sonoran Desert and cease to exist before they reach the Sea of Cortez.
This overuse is not particularly unique among America's rivers; this is modern water.
Then, there is the other Colorado; it carves its way entirely through Texas. So far, its waters still flow to the Gulf of Mexico. But for how long? As with its more renowned cousin, many straws draw from this drink. Texans have a peculiar definition of conservation: in order to conserve water, they use water, lest it be wasted by flowing past downstream. So, Texans infiltrate their Colorado River--utilitarian consumption.
Still, this is not terribly unique; this is modern water.
Texas's Colorado River, like all great rivers, is so many things to so many people. Its course and its waters support population growth, represent economic security, and offer recreational opportunity. This river transforms as it flows from the reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes, to the Austin waterfront of Town Lake, to the twists and curves of Bastrop County, the irrigation canals of rice country, and the estuarine marshes of Matagorda Bay. Water--this Colorado River--brings life, and money, and people to the landscape.
This is not at all unique. This is just modern water, another Colorado River.
