The Chico River is a river of
Chubut Province
Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with RÃo Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. It is about long, flowing in a northeasterly direction from the vicinity of
Lake Colhue Huapi. It is a tributary of the
Chubut River
The Chubut River (; ; ) is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word , which means 'transparent'. The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it. Welsh settle ...
, joining it at the
Florentino Ameghino Dam.
Before 1939 water from the
Senguerr River entered the Chico via an outlet on the east side of
Lake Colhue Huapi, but heavy use of water for
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
has lowered the lake level and led to desiccation of the Chico river. The wide valley of the Chico is mostly dry today, except during periods of especially heavy snowmelt in the
Andean
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
headwaters of the Senguerr.
See also
*
List of rivers of Argentina
This is a list of rivers of Argentina.
Longest Rivers
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Rivers in the table above are in bold.
La Plata Basin
* RÃ ...
References
* Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.
GEOnet Names Server
Hydrogeology of a Large Oil-and-Gas Basin in Central Patagonia
Rivers of Argentina
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