The Tâmega () or Támega (; ) is a river in
Galicia, Spain
Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces o ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. It begins its course near
Verín,
Galicia, Spain, and flows to Portugal in the provinces of
Trás-os-Montes and
Douro Litoral.
The Tâmega River is a tributary of the
Douro River
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...
. From Verín, it flows south to Portuguese city of
Chaves; then it flows through a fertile valley called the Veiga. Below Chaves the river narrows to pass through mountains and valleys. Owing to low water level and frequent small dams it is not navigable, passing through the cities of
Amarante and
Marco de Canaveses
Marco de Canaveses () is a city and municipality on Porto district, in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 53,450, in an area of 201.89 km2. The city itself had a population of 9,042 in 2001.
Geography
The city of Marco Canaveses i ...
, flowing in the Douro River, near Entre-os-Rios: in fact Entre-os-Rios means between the rivers.
The Tâmega is more important historically than economically. It has always served as an invasion route for foreign armies intent on reaching the richer southern lands of Portugal. The valley around Chaves has especially seen its share of battles and invading armies.
Like many rivers, the Tâmega suffers from pollution and the ravages of sand and gravel extraction companies. The quality of the water has deteriorated greatly. Another problem is the periodic occurrence of flooding.
Since the completion of the Torrão dam in 1988 less than 1 kilometre above the Douro river and the town of Entre-os-Rios in the municipality of Marco de Canaveses, the Tâmega has been recovering slowly from the effects of pollution.
Sand extraction activities have been prohibited and many upstream cities installed modern sewage treatment plants.
A new dam is planned between the city of
Amarante and the town of
Mondim de Basto. Besides producing electricity, the project will feature a flood control system that will divert the waterflow towards the smaller Olo River. A 220 MW
pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing.
A PSH system stores energy i ...
facility started operating in 2022, storing 40 GWh of electricity. It cost €1.5 billion. Three more turbines are scheduled for the site, bringing the storage power to 880 MW. The project also includes two
run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...
facilities.
Transport
The
Tâmega line, which closed in 2009, was a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
railway line which closely followed the river.
See also
*
List of rivers of Portugal
*
List of rivers of Spain
This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Rivers in the mainland Iberian Peninsu ...
*
Rivers of Galicia The rivers of Galicia form part of a dense hydrography, hydrographical network in the Spain, Spanish autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia and has been described by Otero Pedrayo as “the land of a thousand rivers”. Most rivers are not ...
References
External links
Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Portugal
Rivers of Galicia (Spain)
International rivers of Europe
Tributaries of the Douro River
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