Talk:Rio Grande

endorheic basins

"the endorheic basins that are adjacent to and within the greater drainage basin of the Rio Grande increase the total drainage-basin area" - that makes zero sense. By definition, endorheic basins do NOT form part of the DRAINAGE basin of the Rio Grande. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.79.157.125 (talk) 19:21, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

An endorheic basin is usually included in an adjacent drainage if that closed basin would overflow into the adjacent drainage if it were to fill with water.Kehkou (talk) 11:23, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

water rights

A number of Texans I know claim that while Texas gave up the land around the Rio Grande in 1850, it retained the water rights, particularly as regards navigation. This means that if the river had enough water in it, one could boat all the way into Colorado while remaining in Texas. I seriously doubt this, but was wondering if anyone on this site might have further information.165.91.64.232 (talk) 07:24, 8 May 2013 (UTC)RKH

Name

rio grande is pronounced rio gran-de, not rio grand.51grizzly (talk) 17:41, 18 August 2013 (UTC) Does anyone know a source that describes the history of the different names for the river on each side of the border? Tomer^talk 09:59, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I can't find a source but Rio Grande is Portuguese, whereas Río Bravo is Spanish. Kewpid 02:23, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Río Grande is Spanish too (with the accent on the i), my assumption is that the í=>i is a result of the fact that, generally speaking, English orthography doesn't preserve diacritics in words it kyfes from other languages. It means the same thing in Spanish as it does in Portuguese, but that doesn't answer the question of where the name Río Grande came from and why the name Río Bravo is now used for the river in Spanish.  :-\ Tomer^talk 08:53, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

It seems that it was once referred to as the "Río de Las Palmas" by the early Spanish explorers. (See in es:Francisco de Garay: "Aunque Francisco de Garay nunca puso pie en Tejas, su nombre ha sido frecuentemente relacionado con la historia del estado por error. Profundamente enraizado en la historiografía del estado esta la idea equivocada que él desembarcó en la boca del Río Grande (llamado Río de las Palmas) en 1523 y que exploró el río brevemente antes de proceder hacia el Río Pánuco. Verdaderamente, después que vientos contrarios empujaron sus embarcaciones a más de 160 kilómetros al norte de su objetivo original, él desembarcó en la desembocadura del río Soto la Marina, unos 240 kilómetros al sur del Río Grande. Fue a este río al cual Garay le dio el nombre por el cual seria conocido en tiempos coloniales, Río de las Palmas.") ...but my Spanish isn't very good.

McAllen, Texas is nicknamed the "City of palms".

Anyone?

--Jerome Potts (talk) 00:29, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, see http://www.library.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/newkingdom/reinochapter2p6.htm --Jerome Potts (talk) 12:21, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

I think it is misleading to mention that it is known as Rio Bravo "in Mexico," "south of the border," etc. The real distinction, as far as I know, is that it is known as "Rio Bravo" in the entire Spanish-speaking world, not just Mexico. It is only in the US, and other countries which have taken the US name for the river, where it is known as "Rio Grande." Cospelero (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 11:25, 20 February 2012 (UTC).

All of this fails to answer the question asked by the first poster here, which I also am curious about: why does it have two names? Río Grande is Spanish (which is not to say we don't mispronounce it). I think if a bunch of us "gringos" were to name it, we wouldn't give it a Spanish-language name (it'd be the Sam Houston River or something like that). That makes me think the name Río Grande precedes English-speaking colonization. Any idea how it got that way? 155.213.224.59 (talk) 17:07, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Addition after name

To note that the name is indeed of Spanish origin, and not Portuguese, could (Originally: Río Grande) be placed in the first sentence?

I don't think its necessary. The Portuguese thing was merely someone showing off by reminding us it needs the accent. 155.213.224.59 (talk) 17:11, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Mouth of the Rio Grande

Is it possible to actually reach the mouth of the river? It seems that it comes to an abrupt end just before reaching the Gulf of Mexico, with a sandy strip of beach between the river's end and the gulf. Can one get near this area, or would they be detained by border agents? Anyone been to the mouth? 98.221.133.96 (talk) 10:02, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Depends what source you look at. Most images from Google/others were taken during a major drought, and shows the sandbar at the mouth. Wet weather since then has broken the bar and it flows, albeit very slowly, into the Gulf. This section of beach has always been accessible by going to the end of State Highway 4 and going south a couple miles. There is a border patrol checkpoint about halfway between the coast and Brownsville that is always open. 25or6to4 (talk) 03:54, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

So if I were to park my car at the end of TX-4 Boca Chica Highway and walk along the beach in a time of drought, I could actually walk across the US-Mexico border and see the Rio Grande dump into a Texan estuary and not directly into the Gulf? Is this actually allowed, or would I not be permitted on the beach there? 98.221.133.96 (talk) 12:14, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Technically, yes you could keep walking for a while. There's no access issues. Not sure if it would be considered an estuary. Reading the estuary page, I think it would need a water connection to the Gulf of Mexico. During drought, the river is completely closed off from the Gulf. The current imagery from Google Maps for the mouth of the river was taken 1/04/06, and 2005 was the driest year since 1953, so it shows a likely extreme, but it was nothing more than a long skinny lake at that time. 25or6to4 (talk) 03:43, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Perhaps estuary was the wrong choice of words. Anyway, I could walk right up to the border without being harassed? Have you done it? Also, how can you find the date on which google earth phots were taken? 98.221.133.96 (talk) 13:10, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

rio grande is a river. a river is called rio grande because they wanted to call it that is proble means nothing at all and they just made that up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.227.4.200 (talk) 03:35, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Rio Grabde is big river186.177.3.215 (talk) 13:53, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

Side Note about name

Will everyone make sure that when editing, it is the Rio Grande, not the Rio Grande river, since in Spanish, Rio already means "river". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.164.89.196 (talk) 22:39, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

This is correct. This academic source discusses the issue. --Kent G. Budge (talk) 22:12, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

But we aren't using Spanish. The Spanish term "Rio Grande" means "big river", the English term "Rio Grande" is simply the name of this river. Rio Grande River is no more a mistake than "Mississippi River". --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 13:51, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

That analogy does not carry over. The official name of the river is Rio Grande, specifically excluding the English word "river", and not merely because it's "simply the [English] name of the river". It is not unique to this waterway either; more than three quarters of New Mexico's waterways are named starting with either "rio", "rito", "cañon" or "arroyo", without officially including the English words "river", "creek", "canyon", or "wash". It may seem alien to you, but that is just how it is in this region of the US. Kehkou (talk) 18:46, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

Pronunciation

How do you pronounce this river in English? 75.151.57.113 (talk) 21:08, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

Just pronounce the bold capital letters. RE-Oh GRAND-hEY
-AMAPO (talk) 02:47, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Geography

Ojinaga Mexico is due south of presidio Texas not due south of el Paso Texas. So I believe the rio conchas enters the Rio grande at ojinaga again in the big bend area. 184.96.242.182 (talk) 13:19, 23 August 2022 (UTC)