The Colorado River Alliance champions the long-term vitality of the Texas Colorado River. With education and engagement programs that touch 14,000 students and community members annually, the Colorado River Alliance supports the people, ecosystems, communities, and businesses that depend on this irreplaceable natural resource.At over 800 miles long, the Texas Colorado River is one of the longest rivers to start and end in the same state. (Note that it is NOT the same Colorado River that flows through Arizona, Utah, and other western states.) Because of its importance to our state's economy, our environment, our industry, our agriculture, and especially our lives as Texans, it is truly the lifeblood of our state. Its headwaters begin in northwest Texas, and the river flows southeast, supporting many different communities and ecosystems and eventually emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay. Along the way, its reservoirs form the Highland Lakes, and it flows through downtown Austin, the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country.