To Mexicans, the river is the Rio Bravo, to we gringos, the Rio Grande. Not so Grande these days, though. A drought that may last many more years is partly to blame, but upstream dams and irrigation projects remove most of the water before the river flows out of the Santa Elena Canyon. Originating in Colorado, most of the rivers water comes from the Rio Conchos, which flows northward from Mexico into the Rio Bravo/Grande.