The Lavaca River is a river in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. It begins in the northeastern part of Gonzales County

Gonzales County, Texas

Gonzales County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,628. It is named for its seat, the city of Gonzales.-History Timeline:* Paleo-Indians Hunter-gatherers, and later Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Karankawa...

, and travels generally southeast for 115 miles until it empties into Lavaca Bay, which is a component of Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...

.

History

The river was originally named the Rivière de Les Veches ("Cow River"), by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...

. The flagship of Jean Laffite's fleet was alleged to have been scuttled in the lower part of the river.

Economy

Only the portion of the watershed and associated water resources located in Jackson County are managed by the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority

Lavaca-Navidad River Authority

The Lavaca-Navidad River Authority or LNRA was formed in August, 1941 by the Texas legislature. Its regulatory authority is authorized by Article 16, Section 59, of the Texas Constitution, codified in Vernon's Annotated Texas Civil Statutes as Article 8280-131...

, which was established in 1941.