Medina River

Not to be confused with the River Medina in the Isle of Wight.

River in Texas, United States

Medina River

Río Mariano, Río San Jose, Río de Bagres

Medina River near Bandera, Texas

Map of the Medina River watershed

Location
Country| United States
State| Texas
Physical characteristics
Source|
• location| Bandera County, Texas
• coordinates| 29°47′46″N 99°15′19″W﻿ / ﻿29.79611°N 99.25528°W﻿ / 29.79611; -99.25528[1]
Mouth| San Antonio River

• location

| Bexar County, Texas

• coordinates

| 29°14′04″N 98°24′28″W﻿ / ﻿29.23444°N 98.40778°W﻿ / 29.23444; -98.40778[1]

• elevation

| 128 m (420 ft)

The Medina River is located in south central Texas, United States, in the Medina Valley. It was also known as the Rio Mariano, Rio San Jose, or Rio de Bagres (Catfish river). Its source is in springs in the Edwards Plateau in northwest Bandera County, Texas, and it merges with the San Antonio River in southern Bexar County, Texas, for a course of 120 miles. It contains the Medina Dam in NE Medina County, Texas which restrains Lake Medina. Much of its course is owned and operated by the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Water District to provide irrigation services to farmers and ranchers.

## History

[edit]

The Medina River was named after Pedro de Medina, a Spanish cartographer, by Alonso de León, Spanish governor of Coahuila, New Spain in 1689. It once served as the official boundary between Texas and Coahuila[2] with the San Antonio River being considered its tributary. At that time, the river was called the Medina all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, but now the part below the confluence is called the San Antonio River.

From 1849, Castroville on the river was a water stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and a stagecoach station on the San Antonio-El Paso Mail and San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line.

## Natural features

[edit]

Much of the source water to the Medina River is produced by springs emerging due to the presence of the Balcones Fault. This locale of the Balcones Fault is associated with an important ecological dividing line for species occurrence. For example, species such as the California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera, occur only west of the Medina River or Balcones Fault.[3]

The Medina River once received significant waste discharge from upstream catfish farming operations, which utilized more water than was sustainable to the basin's safe usage.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* List of rivers of Texas
* Medina Valley Independent School District
* Medina, Bandera County, Texas

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Medina River
2. ^ Edmondson (2000), p. 6.
3. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009
4. ^ Robert Glennon. 2004

## References

[edit]

* Edmondson, J. R. (2000), The Alamo Story: From History to Current Conflicts, Plano: Republic of Texas Press, ISBN 1-55622-678-0
* Robert Glennon. 2004. Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters, Island Press, 314 pages ISBN 1-55963-400-6, ISBN 978-1-55963-400-7
* C. Michael Hogan. 2009. California Fan Palm: Washingtonia filifera, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medina River.

* Medina River from the Handbook of Texas Online

* v
* t
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Municipalities and communities of Medina County, Texas, United States

County seat: Hondo

Cities|

* Castroville
* Devine
* Hondo
* LaCoste
* Lytle‡
* Natalia
* San Antonio‡

Medina County map

CDPs|

* D'Hanis
* Lake Medina Shores‡
* Yancey

Other
communities|

* Dunlay
* Mico
* Pearson
* Rio Medina

Ghost towns|

* New Fountain
* Quihi

Footnotes|

‡This city also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

* Texas portal
* United States portal

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Waters of Texas

Bays and estuaries
of the Gulf of Mexico|

* Alazan Bay
* Aransas Bay
* Baffin Bay
* Carancahua Bay
* Christmas Bay
* Copano Bay
* Corpus Christi Bay
* Dickinson Bay
* East Bay
* East Matagorda Bay
* Espiritu Santo Bay
* Galveston Bay
* Guadalupe Bay
* Laguna Madre
* Lavaca Bay
* Matagorda Bay
* Nueces Bay
* Oso Bay
* Redfish Bay
* Sabine Lake
* San Antonio Bay
* South Bay
* St. Charles Bay
* Tres Palacios Bay
* Trinity Bay
* West Bay

Channels and canals|

* Acequia Madre de Valero
* American Canal
* Aransas Pass
* Bolivar Roads
* Brazos Santiago Pass
* Cedar Bayou
* Franklin Canal
* Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
* Houston Ship Channel
* Matagorda Ship Channel
* Pass Cavallo
* Port Mansfield Channel
* Riverside Canal
* Sabine Pass
* Sabine–Neches Waterway
* San Luis Pass

Lakes and reservoirs|

* Amistad Reservoir
* Caddo Lake
* Canyon Lake
* Cedar Creek Reservoir
* Choke Canyon Reservoir
* Falcon International Reservoir
* Inks Lake
* Lady Bird Lake
* Lavon Lake
* Lake Austin
* Lake Bardwell
* Lake Buchanan
* Lake Conroe
* Lake Corpus Christi
* Lake Ray Hubbard
* Lake Ray Roberts
* Lake LBJ
* Lake Livingston
* Lake Marble Falls
* Lake Meredith
* Lake Tawakoni
* Lake Texoma
* Lake Travis
* Lewisville Lake
* Richland-Chambers Reservoir
* Sam Rayburn Reservoir
* Toledo Bend Reservoir

Rivers|

* Angelina River
* Blanco River
* Bosque River
* Brazos River
* Buffalo Bayou
* Colorado River
* Concho River
* Canadian River
* Guadalupe River
* James River
* Lampasas River
* Lavaca River
* Leon River
* Little River
* Llano River
* Navidad River
* Neches River
* Nolan River
* Nueces River
* Frio River
* Paluxy River
* Pease River
* Pedernales River
* Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River
* Red River
* Rio Grande
* Devils River
* Pecos River
* Sabine River
* San Antonio River
* Medina River
* San Bernard River
* San Gabriel River
* San Jacinto River
* San Marcos River
* San Saba River
* Sulphur River
* Trinity River
* Wichita River
* White River

Wetlands|

* Big Cypress Bayou
* Cow Bayou
* Ottine wetlands
* Rincon Bayou
* Rio Grande Valley

Authority control databases: National |

* United States
* Israel

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