<P> In 1899, after a gradual change to the river position, a channel was dug for flood control which moved the river, creating what was called Cordova Island, which became the center of the Chamizal dispute . Resolving the dispute took many years and almost resulted in a 1909 combined assassination attempt on the American and Mexican presidents . </P> <P> In 1944, the US and Mexico signed a treaty regarding the river, and in 1997, the US designated the Rio Grande as one of the American Heritage Rivers . Two portions of the Rio Grande are designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, one in northern New Mexico and the other in Texas, at Big Bend National Park . </P> <P> In mid-2001, a 328 - foot (100 m) - wide sandbar formed at the mouth of the river, marking the first time in recorded history that the Rio Grande failed to empty into the Gulf of Mexico . The sandbar was dredged, but reformed almost immediately . Spring rains the following year flushed the reformed sandbar out to sea, but it returned in mid-2002 . By late 2003, the river once again reached the Gulf . </P> <P> The United States and Mexico share the water of the river under a series of agreements administered by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), US - Mexico . The most notable of these treaties were signed in 1906 and 1944 . The IBWC traces its institutional roots to 1889, when the International Boundary Committee was established to maintain the border . The IBWC today also allocates river waters between the two nations, and provides for flood control and water sanitation . </P>

Show me a map of the rio grande river