Salado River
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- For other rivers in Argentina named Salado see here
The Salado River (in Spanish Río Salado, literally "Salty River") is a river that crosses several provinces of Argentina, flowing 1,500 kilometres from its source in the Salta Province to end in the Paraná River, in the Santa Fe Province. Because its origin, its flow varies widely within the year, and it can dry out in some parts of its path during the winter. The only important tributary to the river is the Horcones River, which is born in Salta as Cajón River, and joins the Salado in the Santiago del Estero Province.
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[edit] Higher Salado
The Salado is born under the name of Juramento River at the Andes range, from thaw and captured precipitations of the 6,500 metre high Acay and Cachi mountains in the Salta Province, near Catamarca Province. The Cabra Corral Dam regulates its flow, and deviates some of it for irrigation.
[edit] Santiago del Estero
The river then enters the Santiago del Estero Province from the north, near the border with the Tucumán Province, receiving the name of Salado. The Salado and the Dulce River ("Sweet River") south to it, run diagonally in direction south-east, and are the most important rivers to cross the arid lands of Santiago del Estero, being the economic and demographic axis of the province.
The flow of the river is regulated in the Figueroa Department by the Los Figueroa Reservoir, and by a Derivation Dam (Dique Derivador) that re-routes part of its waters to irrigation canals of up to 200 kilometres in length. Further downstream, the river does not have a steady riverbed, what produces swamps, where due to the low quantity of water might stop the flow during the winter.
[edit] Lower Salado
After a course of 800 kilometres inside Santiago del Estero, the river reaches the Santa Fe Province as Salado del Norte ("Northern Salty") to finally join the Paraná River in that province, being the last important tributary to the Paraná.
During rainy summers, the river can overflow its riverbed producing floods; the last important one severely affected the city of Santa Fe (see 2003 Santa Fe flood).
[edit] Other Argentine rivers called Salado
There are other, less important Salado rivers in Argentina, the most important of them being:
- In Buenos Aires Province, the Río Salado starts at the El Chañar lagoon and runs shoutheast some 650 kilometres to the Samborombón Bay.
- In Mendoza Province, San Luis Province and La Pampa Province, the Desaguadero-Salado runs down to the Colorado River.
- In Catamarca Province and La Rioja Province, the local Colorado river is also referred to as Salado river.
[edit] External links
- Salado River at Monografias.com (Spanish)
- Rio Salado: INTA's Planification (Spanish)
- Political History of the Salado (Spanish)
