American Canal facts for kids

The American Canal is in the southern part of the Upper Colorado Region

The American Canal is an irrigation canal in the Upper Rio Grande Valley near El Paso, Texas. The canal acquires water from the Rio Grande from the American Diversion Dam at the Texas–New Mexico–Mexico border, 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of El Paso. The canal supplies the majority of the raw water to El Paso’s Johnathan-Roger Water Treatment Plant. It also prevents flooding in south El Paso neighborhoods. The canal travels along the Rio Grande for 2.1 miles (3.4 km) where it flows into the Franklin Canal and the rest of the canal network. Construction of the canal dates back to 1938.