Question: What was the length, in the 1980's, of the river John J Conway used as a source of water for the settlers to whom he sold land ?

<P0-S0> The Rio Grande ( or ; Spanish: Río Bravo del Norte , ] or simply Río Bravo) is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico (the other being the Colorado River). <P0-S1>  The Rio Grande begins in south-central Colorado in the United States and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. <P0-S2>  Along the way, it forms part of the Mexico–United States border. <P0-S3>  According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, its total length was 1896 mi in the late 1980s, though course shifts occasionally result in length changes. <P0-S4>  Depending on how it is measured, the Rio Grande is either the fourth- or fifth-longest river system in North America. <SEP> <P1-S0> John Conway founded the city of Mission, Texas in 1907 with J. W. Holt when the two purchased the 17000 acre La Lomita Ranch from the Oblate fathers. <P1-S1>  Subdivided parcels were sold to arriving settlers and water was pumped from the Rio Grande by means of a pumping station called the First Lift Station and distributed to the residents of the Rio Grande Valley through the Mission Canal Co. <P1-S2>  Irrigation System, also started by Conway and Holt. <SEP> <P2-S0> A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. <P2-S1>  The water flowing in a spring creek may additionally be fed by snow pack or rain run-off, as in most traditional free-flowing rivers, but often the entire water source for a spring creek is an aquifer or other underground water source. <P2-S2>  For this reason, spring creeks are often filled with very pure, clean water and also demonstrate water flows that are smooth, consistent, and unwavering throughout the seasons of the year - unlike rivers filled with run-off or spring and summer melt-off from snow pack, whose water flows, water clarity, and water conditions often vary highly over the course of the year. <P2-S3>  In addition, water temperatures in spring creeks tend to vary less throughout the seasons of the year than traditional creeks and rivers because they are fed by underground water sources. <P2-S4>  Because of the depths of these water sources, spring creeks often emerge from their source or headwaters very cold and stay that way over the length of their runs. <P2-S5>  In addition, due to the consistent water flows and the fact that spring creek water is "pushed" by the force of pressure from the source rather than "pulled" by the force of gravity downhill, spring creeks can flow through very flat sections of land with minimal depths over grades that might not sustain run-off creeks and rivers. <P2-S6>  In these low-grade or flat sections of spring creeks, water flows can appear almost laminar with the surface of the creek appearing to be nearly flat and without the prominent riffles and surface disturbances caused by more rough or uneven surface bottoms found below free-stone run-off creeks and rivers surfaces. <SEP> <P3-S0> <br><br>Early Settlements. <P3-S1>  The Susquehanna enters the township at Bellman's Creek, and the Northern at about one hundred feet south of the creek, and at a point north and east of the Susquehanna. <P3-S2>  The township was created in 1871, when Hackensack Township was trisected to form Palisades Township in the northernmost third, Englewood Township in the central strip and Ridgefield Township encompassing the southernmost portion, stretching from the Hudson River on the east to the Hackensack River, with Hudson County to the south. <P3-S3>  Bellman's Creek, forming part of the southern boundary, the Hackensack, the Overpeck, the Hudson, with more than a dozen other smaller streams and rivulets, bountifully supply the whole township with water. <P3-S4>  The ancestors of Jacob P. Westervelt, now of Hackensack Village, with himself, were born in English Neighborhood. <P3-S5>  There seems to have been no town or village compactly built, like the village of Bergen, but there were settlements both of Dutch and English in and about what was subsequently known as English Neighborhood prior to 1675. <P3-S6>  The Albany road in this locality is not yet constructed, diverging at present from the track of the Susquehanna between Little Ferry and Bogota stations. <P3-S7>  The southern boundary is less than two miles in extent, and the northern less than four, and the length of the township from north to south does not exceed four miles. <P3-S8>  Much of the area had been during the colonial area known as the English Neighborhood. <P3-S9>  It has, however, an independent line projected and now under construction to New York City. <P3-S10>  As described in the 1882 book, "History of Bergen and Passaic counties, New Jersey," "Ridgefield is the first township in Bergen County which the traveler enters in passing up the Palisades. <P3-S11>  Sloops and schooners can pass up this creek nearly to the northern boundary of the township. <P3-S12> Ridgefield Township was a township that existed in Bergen County, New Jersey. <P3-S13>  The valley of the Hackensack invited early settlers in the seventeenth century, and the valley of the Overpeck Creek, a navigable arm of the Hackensack, also attracted settlers quite as early in this direction. <P3-S14>  The Westervelts, the Zimcrmans, the Bantas, and the Blauvelts, all coming from Holland, settled in the middle of the seventeenth century in that locality.