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Concho River

 

The Concho River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. Concho is Spanish for "shell"; the river was so named due to its abundance of freshwater mussels, such as the Tampico pearly mussel (Cyrtonaias tampicoensis).

The Concho River has three primary feeds: the North, Middle, and South Concho Rivers. The North Concho River is the longest fork, starting in Howard County and traveling southeast for 88 miles until merging with the South and Middle forks near Goodfellow Air Force Base at San Angelo, Texas. The combined branches of the river flow east about 58 miles until it eventually empties into the Colorado River about 12 miles east of Paint Rock, Texas.

Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha, Governor of New Mexico, dispatched an expedition from Santa Fe in 1650 led by Captain Diego del Castillo, to explore what is now north central Texas. The expedition reached the territory of the Tejas Indians, and reported finding pearls on the Concho River. The Diego de Guadalajara expedition was launched in 1654 to follow up on Castillo's findings. The Spanish explored the river for the gem-quality purple to pink pearls produced by that species. The mussels were systematically harvested for only a short time because it was soon realized that the yield of pearls was too low for their harvest to be economically viable.

CONCHO RIVER LAKES
Twin Buttes Reservoir was established to provide flood control, irrigation, water conservation, and a primary drinking water source for San Angelo and the surrounding communities in Tom Green County. The lake also serves as a recreational venue for fishing, boating, and swimming. The dam and reservoir are owned by the United States Bureau of Reclam...
    Full Pool: 1,940.0 MSL     Area: 23,508 Acres