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Slideshow: The Colorado River

This slideshow offers a look at the 600-mile Colorado River, which flows from West Texas to the Gulf Coast and is under serious threat from drought and surging population growth in Central Texas.

by Spencer Selvidge Nov. 1, 20136 AM Central

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The Colorado River is shown east of Longhorn Dam in Austin. The capital city is almost entirely reliant on the Colorado River and its system of dammed reservoirs for water, — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Birdwatchers Frank and Jane Lynn sit near Longhorn Dam, the last dam in the Texas Highland Lakes reservoir system before the Colorado River flows toward the Gulf of Mexico. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Egrets are shown near Longhorn Dam in the Colorado River. Dependents on the river like fishermen and coastal rice farmers have suffered from the drought's effects on the river. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

The Colorado River underneath U.S. Highway 183 in Austin. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Pete Matamoros, 81, walks near the Colorado River under U.S. Highway 183 at the Colorado River Wildlife Sanctuary in Austin, picking up trash as a form of exercise. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Pete Matamoros, 81, picks up trash near the Colorado River. He took up the activity as exercise after his recent triple-bypass heart surgery. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Another look at the Longhorn Dam in the Colorado River. The city of Austin relies almost entirely on the Colorado River for its water supply. The two reservoirs that serve Austin and surrounding communities, Lakes Buchanan and Travis, currently have only about a third of the 655 billion gallons of water they can hold. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge

Looking northwest across Lady Bird Lake, created by the Longhorn Dam. — Credit: Spencer Selvidge