Río Paraguay

The river Río Paraguay (in Portuguese Rio Paraguai ) is an important river of South America, constituting the principal affluent of the Río Paraná and running north in the south on the territory of four countries, the Brésil, the Bolivia, the Paraguay, and the Argentine. It is with the Paraná the principal waterway of the republic of Paraguay. Its basin has a surface of 1095000 km ².

Description

It occurs in the area of Diamantino, in the Mato Grosso with the Brésil near the locality of Barred back Bugres (which constitutes the end of its navigable course), then crosses the marshes of the Pantanal. It very briefly makes border with the Bolivia, crosses the Paraguay where it bathes the capital Asunción and where part of its way makes border with the Argentine. Finally it finishes its course by throwing right-sided in the Río Paraná in Paso of Patria, little before the town of Corrientes in Argentina. He traverses 2.620 km thus.

Of this total 1308 km are traversed in Brazilian territory, 57 km make the border between Brazil and Bolivia, 328 km between Brazil and Paraguay, 537 km are exclusively in Paraguayan territory and 390 km are used as border between Argentina and Paraguay.

The navigable network all the year reaches 2200 km. One divides the course of Río Paraguay into four sectors from the point of view of navigation.

Cours inferior

This sector extends on 346 km and includes/understands the section located between the confluence with the Paraná and the town of Itá Pirú, not located at 45 km in the south of Asunción. In this sector the river has a declivity of 5 cm per km and undergoes an effect of stagnation on behalf of Paraná when this last is in rising.

Boats of two meters draft reach the town of Asunción during all the year. During 75% of time, the latter is even accessible to the boats from 3 meters (more or less 1500 tons).

Cours du Paraguay means

It extends since Itá Pirú until Río Apa, at the Brésil border - Paraguay. The length of this section is of 581 km. It presents a declivity of 6 cm/km. It is navigable for a draft of 2,40 m during 70% of the year.

It is in this sector that navigation meets the greatest disadvantages, like isolated outcrops, sand banks, and very tight curves, sometimes so much that boats are obliged to disarm what increases the costs.

Cours du high Paraguay

This sector extends on 1.323 km between the río Apa and the port from Cáceres (with the km 2.250 since its confluence). The average slope is not any more that from 3,1 cm/km and the depths vary between 4,0 and 10,0 meters except in the " bajos" " and passages where the depth falls to 1,50 Mr. In the zone called " Fecho back Morros" , the slope of the river passes from 2,3 cm/km to 1,3 cm/km. The current velocity slows down considerably. Between Río Apa and the locality of Descalvados, one finds much better conditions of navigation than in the higher section of average Paraguay. Descalvados is roughly with the latitude of 16° 30 ' South, to 189 km in the south of Cáceres.

In this sector it forms the largest marshes of America: large the Pantanal as well as the " Bañados de Otuquis".

For Brazil the level located between Corumbá and Cáceres, a 720 km length, is of great importance, because the other means of transport having access to the area of Cáceres cannot enter in competition with navigation, and this in spite of the difficulties which it encounters.

Cours du Paraguay Supérieur

This section extends to north from Cáceres until Barra back Bugres (with the km 2620), out of 370 km. It is navigable in the first 30 km (confluent of Rio Sepotuba), practically lasting all the year for boats of 1,80 meters draft. Beyond this point it is navigable only in period of raw or for small boats.

Mow access terms with the port of Cáceres are maintained by systematic dredgings, in spite of the slack demand of loads of this port. however the recent expansion of agriculture in the north of the state of Mato Grosso and in that of Rondônia generates a strong increase in demand for the river transport, which justifies the investment agreed.

Affluents

Its principal affluents in the sector of high Paraguay are the Rio Jaurú, which feeds it by the line. This one was the border between Brazil and the Vice-royauté of Río of Plata, and was asserted like border by the Paraguayan state until 1870. Towards the latitude of Southern 17º58' Paraguay receives left side the abundant navigable river called Rio Cuiabá, which bathes the metropolis of Cuiabá. Then little before passing to Puerto Suárez and Corumbá, it receives, of the left side also, Río Miranda (or Mbotetey), extremely abundant him too.

Towards the parallel Southern 19º57', it receives on the right water of Río Bambural (or Tucava). Just with the parallel 20° it forms a marked elbow called Bahía Negra, then after the Paraguayan city of Fuerte Olimpo it receives on the left water of Rio Aquidabã and those of the Rio Branco.

In extreme cases of its middle price, it receives on the left the Rio Apá constituting since 1870 the current paraguayo-Brazilian border. From there, it is average Paraguay. It also receives since the Gran Chaco water of Río Verde (known under the name of " Yavavery" or " Fogones"). With the height of the Tropic of Capricorn Paraguay reaches the old town of Concepción which is immediately in the north of the confluence (on the right) of Río Ypané. Vis-a-vis the towns of Asunción (capital of Paraguay) and of Clorinda (Argentinian) it receives on the right important the Río Pilcomayo which, from Bolivia, cross all the Gran Chaco by making the border between the Argentine and the Paraguay.

It arrives thus in its lower course and passes vis-a-vis the Argentinian city of Formosa, capital of the province of Formosa, then it receives Paraguayan left side the Río Tebicuary. Lastly, vis-a-vis the town of Pilar, it receives one of its larger affluents, the Río Bermejo come from the Andes of the Argentinian North-West and Bolivia, which more or less brings 400 cubic meters to him a second and much of sediments. Finally it emerges in Paraná with the place says Paso of Patria.

River ports of Río Paraguay

Etymology

Its name is indisputably Guaraní, the suffix ay meaning river . The origin of para is discussed, most probable being a deterioration of " payaguá" , name with which the guaranís called the members of an ethnos group of origin pampide, of Chaco and current Eastern Paraguay, which until XVIe century lived the zone of the confluence of the rivers called today Paraná and Paraguay. Thus the word " Paraguay" " would mean; river of Payaguás".

Flow

Its very weak unevenness (5 to 6 centimetre per kilometer) and of many meanders cause an extreme slowness of its course. So that it was estimated that it is necessary nearly 6 months so that water run with Corumbá in Brazil reaches the Río of Plata.

Its mode is rather regular, with a medium flow of 4.300 m ³ /s. It is thus one of the large contributors to the flow of the Río of Plata.

Fish

In Rio Paraguay and its affluents, the fishing, during the months when it is allowed, is miraculous: the pintado, the Pacu and the Bagre abound there. Thousands of Jacaré S, Caiman S, long sometimes of 2,40 meters, reign at water surface.

See too

Pantanal
Río Paraná
Hidrovía Paraná-Paraguay
Lagoon Cáceres
Channel Tamengo

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