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"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.
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  • Mad Island Marsh Preserve was once a family-owned rice farm. Before that, it was part of a marsh and prairie ecosystem that stretched along nearly the entire Gulf Coast. The Nature Conservacy now owns the property and is in the process of returning the land to its original form.<br />
<br />
The marsh, part of the Matagorda Bay estuarine habitat, on the Texas Gulf Coast, lies at the terminus of the Central Flyway, one of four principal North American migratory bird routes. Nearly 250 species of birds--including migrating and resident songbirds, shorebirds, colonial nesting birds, and wading birds--use the area for feeding, resting and roosting. Yet, the preserve's upland prairies represent a part of the remaining 2 percent of the original tallgrass coastal prairies once found across Texas.
    TX-AguaModerna-Mad-Island-Wetland.tif
  • At the Austin Water Utility Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend, the duckweed covered ponds are used to reduce the algae levels of the treated wastewater. The water is then returned to outdoor holding ponds that have become famous for attracting migratory birds to the area.
    TX-AguaModerna-Greenhouse.tif
  • Richard Heinichen, owner of Rainwater Bottled Water Company, looks to the skies to fill his massive tank farm--dubbed "Tank Town." In the Hill Country west of Austin, well-water is calcium laden, pants-stiffening and virtually undrinkable.
    TX-AguaModerna-TankTown.tif
  • Two red-capped swimmers prepare for a morning dip in Austin's Barton Springs Pool.
    TX-AguaModerna-BartonSprings-RedCaps.tif
  • Karin Weidenhammer enjoys the crystal green waters of Barton Springs Pool in Austin, Texas, one of the iconic landmarks in this capital city. The aquifer underlying much of Central Texas, the Edwards Aquifer, feeds this and many other springs, but is threatened by development, increased pumping, pollution, and population growth.
    TX-AguaModerna-BartonSpringsGreen.tif
  • An underground forest is revealed by low levels in the Highland Lakes, the system of reservoirs created by six dams operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The summer of 2006 will be a tough one for the River Authority who will have to balance the needs of irrigation and recreation with the demands of an ever growing population--and then there are the needs of the environment.
    TX-AguaModerna-Deadwood.tif
  • Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) take flight from their springtime home on Mad Island Marsh Preserve. The marsh, part of the Matagorda Bay estuarine habitat, on the Texas Gulf Coast, lies at the terminus of the Central Flyway, one of four principal North American migratory bird routes. Nearly 250 species of birds--including migrating and resident songbirds, shorebirds, colonial nesting birds, and wading birds--use the area for feeding, resting and roosting. Yet, the preserve's upland prairies represent a part of the remaining 2 percent of the original tallgrass coastal prairies once found across Texas.
    TX-AguaModerna-Mad-Island_CattleEgre...tif
  • Boat launch troughs cut through the bank of the Colorado River near Lake Travis, one of six dams run by the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority). With drought and increased water use by industry, agriculture, recreation, and the environment, the reservoirs are running low.
    TX-AguaModerna-Channel.tif
  • Rice levees follow the contour of the land at exactly the same elevation. Laser-leveling, though prohibitively expensive for many rice farmers, may need to be universally applied to the industry in order to conserve the amount of water that may be needed elsewhere on the river.
    TX-AguaModerna-Curved-Rice-Levees.tif
  • For some, the river is not a place for pleasure. Warily, this man (who would not give his name) washes his clothes directly below the Longhorn Dam.
    TX-AguaModerna-washing1.tif
  • Henry Bradford, LCRA Superintendent for Irrigation in the Gulf Coast District, inspects the pumps which bring water out of the Colorado River and into the LCRA's system of irrigation canals.
    TX-AguaModerna-Pumpstation.tif
  • Longhorn Dam, at the base of Town Lake, must be opened to accomodate any inflow from Lake Austin, which simultaneously has inflow from Lake Travis. It marks the beginning of the return of the Colorado River, and with it, rapidly fluctuating river levels as water rises and falls upstream in the LCRA system of reservoirs.  As a consequence, some people--or at least their cars--fall victim to muddy riverbeds.
    TX-AguaModerna-Dead-Car.tif
  • Oumansour Si Mohamed and his son, Hameza, spend the morning fishing on Town Lake across from the Holly Street Power Plant.
    TX-AguaModerna-Fishing-HollyPowerPla...tif
  • Jessica Martinez, a member of the Austin Youth River Watch program, checks for pH levels and nutrient content on Waller Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River. The program was begun in the early 1990s to give at-risk youth an opportunity to remove themselves from negative environments while learning about the river and the scientific processes of ecosystems.
    TX-AguaModerna-Water-Testing.tif
  • Neal Cook, owner of Cook's Canoes in Webberville, Texas, points to one of the many points of interest along the stretch of the Colorado River that passes by his business. Formerly with the Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife, Neal has come to see the river as an abused entity, its water levels and flow rates changing at the whim of the LCRA and the state.
    TX-AguaModerna-NealCook.tif
  • Internal lightning illuminates the sky over Robert Mueller Airport in Austin, Texas. The airport is slated to become a new, planned community with shopping malls and recreation fields. A children's hospital is already being built on the land.
    TX-AguaModerna-OldAirport.tif
  • Lights from the slow-moving barge traffic on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway streak across the horizon near Mad Island Marsh Preserve.<br />
<br />
The marsh, part of the Matagorda Bay estuarine habitat, on the Texas Gulf Coast, lies at the terminus of the Central Flyway, one of four principal North American migratory bird routes. Nearly 250 species of birds--including migrating and resident songbirds, shorebirds, colonial nesting birds, and wading birds--use the area for feeding, resting and roosting. Yet, the preserve's upland prairies represent a part of the remaining 2 percent of the original tallgrass coastal prairies once found across Texas.
    TX-AguaModerna-startrails.tif
  • Waters flow from Austin's Town Lake--actually a portion of the Colorado River--over Longhorn Dam.
    TX-AguaModerna-LonghornDam.tif
  • Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from under Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. The colony is the largest urban bat colony in North America, with up to 1.5 million bats spiraling into the summer skies.
    TX-AguaModerna-bats.tif
  • Mansfield Dam--operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA)--is one of six dams on the lower Colorado River of Texas. The dam creates Lake Travis, one of the LCRA's storage reservoirs, and one of the most popular resort destinations in Central Texas.
    TX-AguaModerna-Mansfield-Dam.tif
  • Roger Storer and his wife, Lark, retired from the technology industry in Austin. When deciding to build a new home on Lake Travis, the couple wanted to do something unique. At five stories high, their lighthouse-house in Jonestown is certainly that.
    TX-AguaModerna-Lighthouse-House.tif
  • Members of the Austin Youth River Watch program check for pH levels and nutrient content on the Colorado River near Austin's Holly Power Plant. The program was begun in the early 1990s to give at-risk youth an opportunity to remove themselves from negative environments while learning about the river and the scientific processes of ecosystems.
    TX-AguaModerna-RiverWatch-Dock.tif
  • For some, the river is not a place for pleasure. Warily, this man (who would not give his name) washes his clothes directly below the Longhorn Dam.
    TX-AguaModerna-washing2.tif
  • Kevin Anderson, who runs the Austin Water Utility Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend, inspects one of the duckweed covered ponds that are used to reduce the algae levels of the treated wastewater. The water is then returned to outdoor holding ponds that have become famous for attracting migratory birds to the area.
    TX-AguaModerna-Greenhouse-Kevin.tif
  • The Colorado River is so many things to so many people. Its course and its waters support population growth, represent economic security, and offer recreational opportunity. It transfroms from Highland Lakes, to the Austin waterfront, to the irrigation canals of rice country, and the marshes of Matagorda Bay. Water--this Colorado River--brings life, and money, and people to the landscape. And, it is our part of nature.
    TX-AguaModerna-River-Roots.tif
  • Rachel Lawson, three weeks into her job as a lifeguard at Barton Springs Pool, takes up the unenviable task of cleaning the natural bottom of the pool. Cleaned once a week, the pool has in recent years been subject to closures due to increased levels of pesticide and E. coli contamination, among other things. .
    TX-AguaModerna-BartonSpringsSweeping.tif
  • Runoff from the street above flows into the Colorado River as it courses through Austin as Town Lake, a reservoir created by Longhorn Dam.
    TX-AguaModerna-Runoff.tif
  • With only one natural lake in the state, that being East Caddo Lake in the far Northeast, many Texans flock to the Highland Lakes, and especially Lake Travis for receation and scenery.
    TX-AguaModerna-LakeTravis.tif
  • With only one natural lake in the state, that being East Caddo Lake in the far Northeast, many Texans flock to the Highland Lakes (all reservoirs), and especially Lake Travis, for receation and scenery.
    TX-AguaModerna-Egret.tif
  • A golden-eyed frog clings to the reeds in the Austin Water Utility Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend. The duckweed covered ponds are used to reduce the algae levels of the treated wastewater. The water is then returned to outdoor holding ponds that have become famous for attracting migratory birds to the area.
    TX-AguaModerna-frog.tif
  • An alligator lurks in one of the canals being used to restore the wetlands of Mad Island Marsh Preserve.<br />
<br />
The marsh, part of the Matagorda Bay estuarine habitat, on the Texas Gulf Coast, lies at the terminus of the Central Flyway, one of four principal North American migratory bird routes. Nearly 250 species of birds--including migrating and resident songbirds, shorebirds, colonial nesting birds, and wading birds--use the area for feeding, resting and roosting. Yet, the preserve's upland prairies represent a part of the remaining 2 percent of the original tallgrass coastal prairies once found across Texas.
    TX-AguaModerna-Mad-Island-Alligator.tif
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