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{{Infobox river
{{Geobox|River
| name = Alamo River
<!-- *** Heading *** -->
| native_name ={{native name|es|Río Álamo}}
| name = Alamo River
| name_other =
| native_name = Río Álamo
| other_namename_etymology =
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| category =
| image = AlamoRiver1.jpg
<!-- *** Names **** -->
| image_caption = Alamo River north of Zenos Road, near [[Holtville, California]]
| etymology =
| image_size = 300
| nickname =
| map = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg
<!-- *** Image *** -->
| map_size = 300
| image = AlamoRiver1.jpg
| map_caption = Map showing the course of the Alamo River in the United States
| image_caption = Alamo River north of Zenos Road, near [[Holtville, California]]
| pushpin_map =
| image_size =
| pushpin_map_size =
<!-- *** Country *** -->
| pushpin_map_caption=
| country = Mexico
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| country1 = United States
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| state =
| subdivision_name1 = Mexico, United States
| region =
| districtsubdivision_type2 =
| municipalitysubdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_type3 =
<!-- *** Family *** -->
| parentsubdivision_name3 =
| subdivision_type4 =
| tributary_left =
| tributary_rightsubdivision_name4 =
| citysubdivision_type5 =
| landmarksubdivision_name5 =
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
<!-- *** River locations *** -->
| length = {{convert|52|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="WQCB">{{cite web|url=http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb7/water_issues/programs/tmdl/docs/alamo/aslt5_6.pdf|title=Silt Total Maximum Daily Load for the Alamo River|publisher=California Environmental Protection Agency|work=State Water Resources Control Board|date=May 1999|access-date=2013-07-30}}</ref>
| source = [[Colorado River]]
| width_min =
| source_location = Alamo| source_region = Baja California | source_country = Mexico
| width_avg =
| source_elevation = 36
| width_max =
| source_coordinates = {{coord|32.68269|-114.7515656|region:MX_type:river|display=inline}}
| source1depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| source1_location = | source1_region = | source1_country =
| source1_elevationdepth_max =
| discharge1_location= [[Niland, California|Niland]], about {{convert|1|mi|km}} above the mouth<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/wy2012/pdfs/10254730.2012.pdf|title=USGS Gage #10254730 on the Alamo River near Niland, CA|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|work=National Water Information System|year=2013|access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>
| source1_coordinates =
| discharge1_min = {{convert|288|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| source_confluence =
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|847|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/wy2012/pdfs/10254730.2012.pdf|title=USGS Gage #10254730 on the Alamo River near Niland, CA|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|work=National Water Information System|year=2013|access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>
| source_confluence_location = | source_confluence_region = | source_confluence_country =
| discharge1_max = {{convert|4500|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| source_confluence_elevation =
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source_confluence_coordinates =
| mouthsource1 = [[SaltonColorado SeaRiver]]
| source1_location = Alamo, Baja California, Mexico
| mouth_location = | mouth_region = | mouth_country =
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|32.68269|-114.7515656|region:MX_type:river|display=inline}}
<!-- FIXME!!! mouth is 66m below sea level, template is broken for negative numbers -->
| source1_elevation = {{convert|36|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth_elevation = -66
| mouth = [[Salton Sea]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|33.206517|-115.61433|region:US-CA_type:river|display=inline,title}}
| coordinatesmouth_location =
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|33.206517|-115.61433|region:US-CA_type:river|display=inline,title}}
| capital_coordinates =
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|-66|m|abbr=on}}
| highest_coordinates =
| lowest_coordinatesprogression =
| source2_coordinatesriver_system =
| basin_size =
| management_coordinates =
| tributaries_left =
| government_coordinates =
| tributaries_right =
| length_imperial =52
| custom_label =
|length_note=<ref name="WQCB">{{cite web|url=http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb7/water_issues/programs/tmdl/docs/alamo/aslt5_6.pdf|title=Silt Total Maximum Daily Load for the Alamo River|publisher=California Environmental Protection Agency|work=State Water Resources Control Board|date=May 1999|accessdate=2013-07-30}}</ref>
| width_imperialcustom_data =
| watershed_imperialextra =
| discharge_imperial = 847
|discharge_note=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/wy2012/pdfs/10254730.2012.pdf|title=USGS Gage #10254730 on the Alamo River near Niland, CA|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|work=National Water Information System|year=2013|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref>
|discharge_location=[[Niland, California|Niland]], about {{convert|1|mi|km}} above the mouth
| discharge_max_imperial =4500
| discharge_min_imperial =288
<!-- *** Free fields *** -->
| free = | free_type =
<!-- *** Maps *** -->
| map =
| map_caption =
| map_background =
| map_locator =
| map_locator_x =
| map_locator_y =
<!-- *** Website *** -->
| website =
| commons =
<!-- *** Footnotes *** -->
| footnotes =
}}
 
The '''Alamo River''' ({{lang-es|Río Álamo}}) flows west and north from the [[Mexicali Municipality|Mexicali Valley]] ([[Baja California]]) across the [[Imperial Valley]] ([[California]]). The {{convert|52|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}<ref name="WQCB"/> river drains into the [[Salton Sea]].
[[Image:Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg|thumb|left|Map showing path of the Alamo River in the United States]]
 
The [[New River (Mexico–United States)|New River]], Alamo River, and the Salton Sea of the 21st century started in autumn 1904, when the [[Colorado River]], swollen by seasonal rainfall and snow-melt, flowed through a series of three human-engineered openings in the recently constructed levee bank of the [[Alamo Canal]].<ref name="tait">{{cite book|title=Irrigation in Imperial Valley, California: its problems and possibilities|year=1908|publisher=Washington Government Printing Office|isbn=978-1-113-10178-5|url=https://archive.org/details/irrigationinimp00taitgoog|quote=pilot knob imperial canal intake.|author=Clarence Everett Tait|access-date=26 August 2010|pages=[https://archive.org/details/irrigationinimp00taitgoog/page/n19 13], 51}}</ref> The resulting flood poured down the canal and [[Dike breach|breached]] an Imperial Valley dike. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea; the rivers had re-created a great inland sea in an area that it had frequently inundated before, the [[Salton Sink]].
The '''Alamo River''' ({{lang-es|Río Álamo}}) flows west and north from the [[Municipality of Mexicali|Mexicali Valley]] ([[Baja California]]) across the [[Imperial Valley (California)|Imperial Valley]] ([[California]]). The {{convert|52|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}<ref name="WQCB"/> river drains into the [[Salton Sea]].
 
It took slightly less than two years (March 1905 to February 10, 1907)<ref name="George Kennan">{{cite web|last=Kennan|first=George|title=The Salton Sea - An Accounting of Harriman's Fight with the Colorado River|pages=39 and 87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAAOAAAAYAAJ&q=george+kennan+fight|publisher=The MacMillan Company|access-date=18 Mar 2018|date=1 January 1917}}</ref> to control the Colorado River’s inflow to the Alamo Canal and stop the uncontrolled flooding of the Salton Sink, but the canal was effectively channelized with operational headgates by early 1907. The Alamo and New Rivers continued to flow, but at a lesser rate.<ref name="laflin">{{cite web|last=Laflin|first=Pat|title=THE SALTON SEA CALIFORNIA'S OVERLOOKED TREASURE|pages=21–26|url=http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/ltnav/library_content/Hydrology/cal_orverlooked_treasure_lafin.pdf|publisher=Coachella Valley Historical Society|access-date=1 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118210143/http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/ltnav/library_content/Hydrology/cal_orverlooked_treasure_lafin.pdf|archive-date=18 November 2010}}</ref>
The creation of the [[New River (California)|New River]], Alamo River, and [[Salton Sea]] of today started in the autumn of 1904, when the [[Colorado River]], swollen by seasonal rainfall and snow-melt, flowed through a series of three human-engineered openings in the recently constructed levee bank of the [[Alamo Canal]].<ref name="tait">{{cite book|title=Irrigation in Imperial Valley, California: its problems and possibilities|year=1908|publisher=Washington Government Printing Office|isbn=978-1-113-10178-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ngMOAAAAYAAJ&dq=pilot%20knob%20imperial%20canal%20intake&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q=pilot%20knob%20imperial%20canal%20intake&f=false|author=Clarence Everett Tait|accessdate=26 August 2010|pages=13, 51}}</ref> The resulting flood poured down the canal and [[Dike breach|breached]] an Imperial Valley dike. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea; the rivers had re-created a great inland sea in an area that it had frequently inundated before, the [[Salton Sink]].
 
The river was named after the Spanish name for the [[populus fremontii|Fremont cottonwood]] that grows in the region.<ref name="BrightGudde1998">{{cite book|author1=William Bright|author2=Erwin Gustav Gudde|title=1500 California place names: their origin and meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CET4QodMZysC|access-date=20 January 2012|date=30 November 1998|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21271-8|page=12}}</ref>
It took slightly less than two years (Mar 1905 to Feb 10, 1907) <ref name="George Kennan">{{cite web|last=Kennan|first=George|title=The Salton Sea - An Accounting of Harriman's Fight with the Colorado River|pages=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAAOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=george+kennan+fight&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjroKSphfrZAhWj0YMKHZxWA0oQ6AEIPzAE#v=onepage&q=george%20kennan%20fight&f=false|publisher=The MacMillan Company|accessdate=20 Mar 2018|archiveurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAAOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=george+kennan+fight&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjroKSphfrZAhWj0YMKHZxWA0oQ6AEIPzAE#v=onepage&q=george%20kennan%20fight&f=false|archivedate=01 January 1917}}</ref> to control the Colorado River’s inflow to the Alamo Canal and stop the uncontrolled flooding of the Salton Sink, but the canal was effectively channelized with operational headgates by the early part of 1907. The Alamo and New Rivers continued to flow, but at a lesser rate.<ref name="laflin">{{cite web|last=Laflin|first=Pat|title=THE SALTON SEA CALIFORNIA'S OVERLOOKED TREASURE|pages=21–26|url=http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/ltnav/library_content/Hydrology/cal_orverlooked_treasure_lafin.pdf|publisher=Coachella Valley Historical Society|accessdate=1 June 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118210143/http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/ltnav/library_content/Hydrology/cal_orverlooked_treasure_lafin.pdf|archivedate=18 November 2010}}</ref>
 
The river was named after the Spanish name for the [[populus fremontii|Fremont cottonwood]] that grows in the region.<ref name="BrightGudde1998">{{cite book|author1=William Bright|author2=Erwin Gustav Gudde|title=1500 California place names: their origin and meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CET4QodMZysC|accessdate=20 January 2012|date=30 November 1998|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21271-8|page=12}}</ref>
 
In most places, the river is a vegetation-choked ravine with a small watercourse at the bottom.
 
The [[California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment]] has issued a safe eating advisory based on mercury, DDTs, PCBs, and selenium.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/alamo-river|title=Alamo River|last=Pham|first=Huyen Tran|date=2016-10-28|work=OEHHA|access-date=2018-06-11|language=en}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
==See also==
*[[Lake Cahuilla]]
*[[Salton Sea]]
*{{C|Tributaries of the Salton Sea}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
{{Colorado River system}}
{{Imperial County, California}}
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:Rivers of Baja California]]
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