The Upper Colorado River Authority or UCRA was created in 1935 by the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

as a quasi-governmental entity to manage the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

as a water resource in Tom Green County and Coke County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

.Upper Colorado River Authority from the Texas Handbook Online
/ref> The authority has since been extended to include

Schleicher County Schleicher County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,451. Its county seat is Eldorado. The county was created in 1887 and organized in 1901. It is named for Gusta ...

and Concho County. The organization is managed by a nine-person

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

appointed to six-year terms by the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

.Upper Colorado River Authority (2009)
"About Us"
Accessed August 4, 2009. The UCRA has served as a lending institution, offering loans to municipalities in its served district for

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...

projects. The authority also participates in the Clean Rivers Program, and other environmental programs of the state of Texas. In 2008, the UCRA began construction in

San Angelo San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

of the Concho River Basin Education and Research Center, which offers educational programs to schoolchildren about water use and

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

.Upper Colorado River Authority (2009)
"Concho River Basin Education & Research Center"
Accessed August 4, 2009.

Reservoirs

The Upper Colorado River Authority does not directly manage or operate any

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

s. The authority has helped to provide financial and administrative support to other operating authorities to establish three

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

on the Upper Colorado River and its

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

: *

E.V. Spence Reservoir E.V. Spence Reservoir (also known as Lake E.V. Spence) is an artificial lake located west of (and upstream from) the town of Robert Lee, Texas. The reservoir was impounded by the creation of Robert Lee Dam in 1969, with the support of the Upper ...

, managed by the

Colorado River Municipal Water District Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

O.C. Fisher Reservoir O.C. Fisher Reservoir (also known as O.C. Fisher Lake, formerly known as San Angelo Lake) is an artificial lake located west of the city of San Angelo, Texas. With the financial support of the Upper Colorado River Authority, construction on the d ...

, managed by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Twin Buttes Reservoir Twin Buttes Reservoir is an artificial lake located about southwest of the city of San Angelo, Texas, and immediately upstream from Lake Nasworthy. Construction on Twin Buttes Dam to form the reservoir was completed in 1963. The dam is an unusua ...

, managed by the City of San Angelo

References

{{authority control Colorado River (Texas) River authorities of Texas State agencies of Texas Companies based in San Angelo, Texas Government agencies established in 1935 Financial services companies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Texas

Reservoirs

See also

References