The Río Conchos (Conchos River) is a large river in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

of Chihuahua. It joins the Río Bravo del Norte (known in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as the Rio Grande) at the town of Ojinaga, Chihuahua.

Description

The Rio Conchos is the main river in the state of Chihuahua and the Rio Grande's largest tributary. 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 C ...

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, 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 Ojinaga (Manuel Ojinaga) is a town and seat of the Ojinaga (municipality), municipality of Ojinaga, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. As of 2015, the town had a total population of 28,040. It is a rural border town ...

. 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 (WWF) is a Swiss-based 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 th ...

(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 An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecology, ecological and Geography, geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of la ...

(rivers systems and lakes, for example) that the WWF considers of global importance for

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

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 A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. Its river and spring habitat ecosystems are relatively intact and support a highly

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 species. 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 An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, 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 ...

. Other threats include poor land and water management practices, such as clear-cutting along the upper Rio Conchos.

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

Description

Course

Ecology

See also

References