Alamo River
title: "Alamo River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-baja-california", "rivers-of-imperial-county,-california", "tributaries-of-the-salton-sea", "imperial-valley", "brawley,-california", "colorado-desert", "rivers-of-mexico", "rivers-of-southern-california"] topic_path: "geography/mexico" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Alamo River |
| native_name | es |
| image | AlamoRiver1.jpg |
| image_caption | Alamo River north of Zenos Road, near Holtville, California |
| image_size | 300 |
| map | Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg |
| map_size | 300 |
| map_caption | Map showing the course of the Alamo River in the United States |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | Mexico, United States |
| length | 52 mi |
| discharge1_location | Niland, about 1 mi above the mouth |
| discharge1_min | 288 cuft/s |
| discharge1_avg | 847 cuft/s |
| discharge1_max | 4500 cuft/s |
| source1 | Colorado River |
| source1_location | Alamo, Baja California, Mexico |
| source1_coordinates | |
| source1_elevation | 36 m |
| mouth | Salton Sea |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| mouth_elevation | -66 m |
| :: |
| name = Alamo River | native_name =es | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = AlamoRiver1.jpg | image_caption = Alamo River north of Zenos Road, near Holtville, California | image_size = 300 | map = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg | map_size = 300 | map_caption = Map showing the course of the Alamo River in the United States | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Mexico, United States | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = 52 mi | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= Niland, about 1 mi above the mouth | discharge1_min = 288 cuft/s | discharge1_avg = 847 cuft/s | discharge1_max = 4500 cuft/s | source1 = Colorado River | source1_location = Alamo, Baja California, Mexico | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 36 m | mouth = Salton Sea | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = -66 m | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra =
The Alamo River () flows west and north from the Mexicali Valley (Baja California) across the Imperial Valley (California). The 52 mi river drains into the Salton Sea.
The New River, Alamo River, and the Salton Sea of the 21st century started in autumn 1904, when the Colorado River, swollen by seasonal rainfall and snow-melt, flowed through a series of three human-engineered openings in the recently constructed levee bank of the Alamo Canal. The resulting flood poured down the canal and breached an Imperial Valley dike. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea; the rivers had re-created a great inland sea in an area that it had frequently inundated before, the Salton Sink.
It took slightly less than two years (March 1905 to February 10, 1907) to control the Colorado River’s inflow to the Alamo Canal and stop the uncontrolled flooding of the Salton Sink, but the canal was effectively channelized with operational headgates by early 1907. The Alamo and New Rivers continued to flow, but at a lesser rate.
The river was named after the Spanish name for the Fremont cottonwood that grows in the region.
In most places, the river is a vegetation-choked ravine with a small watercourse at the bottom.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has issued a safe eating advisory based on mercury, DDTs, PCBs, and selenium.
References
References
- (May 1999). "Silt Total Maximum Daily Load for the Alamo River". California Environmental Protection Agency.
- (2013). "USGS Gage #10254730 on the Alamo River near Niland, CA". U.S. Geological Survey.
- (2013). "USGS Gage #10254730 on the Alamo River near Niland, CA". U.S. Geological Survey.
- Clarence Everett Tait. (1908). "Irrigation in Imperial Valley, California: its problems and possibilities". Washington Government Printing Office.
- Kennan, George. (1 January 1917). "The Salton Sea - An Accounting of Harriman's Fight with the Colorado River". The MacMillan Company.
- Laflin, Pat. "THE SALTON SEA CALIFORNIA'S OVERLOOKED TREASURE". Coachella Valley Historical Society.
- (30 November 1998). "1500 California place names: their origin and meaning". University of California Press.
- Pham, Huyen Tran. (2016-10-28). "Alamo River". OEHHA.
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