The Río Conchos (Conchos River) is a large river in the
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...
of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
* Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mu ...
. It joins the
Río Bravo del Norte (known in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
as the Rio Grande) at the town of
Ojinaga, Chihuahua
Ojinaga Municipality (formally: Manuel Ojinaga ) is one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Ojinaga, a rural bordertown on the U.S.-Mexico border. The municipality has an area of 9,500.50 km2 ...
.
Description
The Rio Conchos is the main river in the state of Chihuahua and the Rio Grande's largest tributary.
It is one of the most important river systems in all of northern Mexico.
The Conchos has several reservoirs that make use of its water for agricultural and hydropower uses.
Course
The Conchos rises in the
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...
in the municipality of
Bocoyna, Chihuahua, where it heads east and receives several tributaries along the way. At
Valle de Zaragoza municipality, Chihuahua, it is stopped at the
La Boquilla Dam
La Boquilla Dam (Spanish: Presa de la Boquilla) is a masonry arch-gravity dam on the Rio Conchos in Chihuahua, Mexico. It was built in 1910 to provide hydroelectricity, irrigation and flood control, and forms Toronto Lake with a capacity of . The ...
, the largest in Chihuahua forming
Toronto Lake. It then heads east again, forming Colina Lake and then passes through
Camargo, Chihuahua, the main agricultural center in the region, where it receives the
Florido as a tributary.
From there, the Conchos heads north, receiving the San Pedro near
Delicias, Chihuahua, entering the Chihuahua Desert and cutting a path through it, before turning to the northeast. At
Aldama, Chihuahua, it is dammed by the
Presa El Granero, then cuts through the Peguis Canyon, before forming a last dam (Toribio Ortega) near
Ojinaga. At Ojinaga, it joins the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande in the U.S.).
Ecology
The
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...
(WWF) has included the Rio Conchos in its
Global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...
Freshwater Ecoregions assessment. The Global 200 is a list of
freshwater ecoregions (rivers systems and lakes, for example) that the WWF considers of global importance for
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...
conservation. The WWF's assessment of the Rio Conchos rates its biological distinctiveness as "globally outstanding" and its conservation status as critically endangered, putting it in the "priority I" category of needing conservation attention.
The Rio Conchos contains the only free-flowing large river environment left in the Rio Grande drainage basin. Its river and
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
habitat ecosystems are relatively intact and support a highly
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
fish fauna.
[De la Maza-Benignos, M. (ed). 2009. Los Peces del Río Conchos. Alianza World Wildlife Fund-Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/peces2010_web.pdf] Twelve of its forty-seven native fish are endemic, as are twelve of its 46 native reptile and amphibian pecies. The strong biodiversity has survived in part because the river's ecology has not been affected by
channel modifications. The Rio Conchos region is significant not only for its surface water biota, but also its specialized spring and cave habitats, which contribute to the region's high endemism. However, conditions are being damaged by industrial pollution, sewage, agricultural wastes, flow regulation,
exotic species, and
overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
. Other threats include poor land and water management practices, such as clear-cutting along the upper Rio Conchos.
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See also
* List of rivers of Mexico
This is a list of rivers of Mexico, listed from north to south. There are 246 rivers on this list. Alternate names for rivers are given in parentheses.
Rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico
* Río Bravo, the name of the Rio Grande in Mexico
** S ...
* List of longest rivers of Mexico
* List of tributaries of the Rio Grande
Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Rio Grande upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted.
* San Juan River, or Rio San Juan (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila)
** Marte R. Góme ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conchos
Conchos
Tributaries of the Rio Grande
Rivers of the Sierra Madre Occidental
Rivers of Chihuahua (state)
Chihuahuan Desert
Natural history of the Mexican Plateau