Río Salado del Oeste

Río Salado del Oeste Río Desaguadero
The Desaguadero river in the province of Mendoza
Data
location	Argentina
River system	Río Colorado
Drain over	Río Colorado  → Atlantic Ocean
source	as Río Bonete in the northwest of the province of La Rioja between Monte Pissis and Cerro Bonete 27 ° 47 ′ 18 ″  S , 68 ° 36 ′ 17 ″  W
muzzle	at Pichi Mahuida in the Río Colorado Coordinates: 38 ° 49 ′ 6 ″  S , 64 ° 59 ′ 11 ″  W 38 ° 49 ′ 6 ″  S , 64 ° 59 ′ 11 ″  W.
length	approx. 1700 km
Catchment area	300,000 km²
Drain	MQ	14 m³ / s

The Río Salado del Oeste , also known as Río Desaguadero , is a river in Argentina that flows through most of the west of this country.

At 1,498 km, it is one of the longest in the country; if you add the stretch of the Río Colorado to its mouth in the Atlantic, the length increases to 1872 km. However, he often changes his name.

Its water volume fluctuates considerably and averages only 14 m³ / s, but like many rivers in arid regions, it can run dry in parts in dry winter. The reason lies not only in the drought, but also in the heavy use of its water for artificial irrigation . That is why one can only speak of a drainage of its catchment area to a limited extent . It flows into the Río Colorado at Pichi Mahuida .

Catchment area

The catchment area of the river is about 300,000 square kilometers after that of the Paraná and its tributaries, the largest in the country and covers a little more than a tenth of its area. It includes the following parts of the country:

• the west of La Rioja
• the entire province of San Juan
• the province of Mendoza , with the exception of smaller areas without drainage in the southwest
• the west of San Luis
• the province of La Pampa with the exception of the northeast.

Sections

Source or headwaters

The northernmost tributary of the river is the Río Bonete , which rises in the northwest of the La Rioja province in the immediate vicinity of Monte Pissis , the highest volcano on earth, and the only a few meters lower Bonete and its name a few kilometers further south in Rio Jagüé changes. In the village of Vinchina , he again changes his name to Río Vinchina . Thus, the river has three different names over its first 250 km.

Río Bermejo

At Villa Unión in the southwest of La Rioja, the river becomes the Río Bermejo . As such, it flows through the east of the province of San Juan and temporarily dries up in the dry season until it meets its first significant tributary with the Río Jáchal . In the southeast of San Juan it becomes the Desaguadero del Bermejo and shortly afterwards the Río Desaguadero , in this area it loses a large part of its water to a marshland. The river forms the border between San Juan and San Luis in this area , and because of its unclear course, the exact course of the border between the two provinces is still controversial.

Desaguadero River

At the border with the province of Mendoza , the Río San Juan flows into the river, which then takes on a larger volume of water again. A long stretch of it forms the border between the provinces of San Luis and Mendoza. At the mouth of the next major tributary, the Río Tunuyán , it changes its name to Río Salado .

Río Salado

As a salado, it receives the tributary of the Río Diamante in the southeast of Mendoza . Shortly thereafter, it enters the province of La Pampa , where it joins the important Río Atuel . At the confluence between the two rivers there is an extensive marshland, the Bañados del Atuel . There it receives the alternative name Chadileuvu and feeds the Gran Salitral salt lake (a salt desert in dry seasons). At Puelches it feeds three larger lakes, the Laguna Urre Lauquén , the Laguna La Amarga and Laguna La Dulce , and in the process it again loses a large part of its water volume. On the last part of its course before it flows into the Río Colorado, it is also called Río Curacó , here too its water volume is so small that it can almost dry up at times.