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There are 44 of them - 41 of them following westward and three eastward. The rivers of Kerala are small, whether considered in terms of length, breadth or annual stream flow. The rivers flow fast, because of the hilly nature of the terrain and as the distance between the mountains and the sea is rather short. The rivers of Kerala have no deltas. Because of the smallness in size, these rivers are more susceptible to environmental onsloughts. The rate of utilisation of each unit of the river is also very high, due to the high density of population, as already mentioned earlier.
Despite the small size, the riverine biodiversity is very rich. For example, from Chalakudy river alone 98 species of fish have been identified. But the river Kaveri (mainly flowing through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), though 8 times the length of Chalakkudy has only 142 species of fish. The available statistical data about the rivers of Kerala are given in the following table.

No.	Name of the river	Districs which river basin is located	Origin and Elevation (a.s.l)	Length of the River(km)	Main Tributaries	Basin Area(km2)	Average Annual Rainfall(mm)	Average Annual Stream Flow (Mm3)	Navigable Length (km)	Irrigation Projects	H.E projects
Kerala	Other State
1	Achenkoil	PathanamthittaIdukkiAlapuzha	Pasukidamettu700	128	Kallar	1484	Nil	2600	1484	32	Nil	Achencoil(Proposed)
2	Anjarakandy	Kannur	Kannoth600m	40	Kappu ThoduIdumba Thodu	412	Nil	3500	413	27.2	Nil	Nil
3	Ayroor	KollamThiruvananthapuram	NA	17	Nil	66	Nil	2200	NA	1	Nil	Nil
4	Bharatha Puzha	PalakkadMalappuram&Thrissur	Anamalaihills1964	209	Gayathri PuzhaChittor PuzhaKalpathi PuzhaThootha Puzha	4400	1786	2300	5082	40	Kanjira PuzhaChittor PuzhaWalayarMalam Puzhaetc.(8 Nos)	Malam Puzha
5	Chalakudy	Thrissur,Palakkad& Ernakulam	AnamalaiHills1250m	130	ParambikulamSholayarKarappara	1404	300	3600	1629	16	Chalakudy	PeringalkuthSholayar
6	Chaliyar	KozhikodeMalappuram&Wayanad	Ilambalaari2066	169	KarimpuzhaKanchirapuzhaCherupuzha	2535	388	3800	5902	68.4	ChalipuzhaOlipuzhaBaipurapuzha(6 Nos)	PandiyarPunna Puzhaetc(3 Nos)
7	Chandragiri	Kasargod	Pattighat1350m	105	PayashaniChandragiri	570	836	4000	3964	12.8	Nil	Nil
8	Chittari	Kasargod	Chettiamchal91m	25	KalnadBekalChittari	145	Nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
9	Izhikkara	KollamThiruvananthapuram	Madathurikunnu240m	56	VattaparambuVattam Thodu	642	Nil	2400	489	16	Nil	Nil
10	Kadalundi	MalappuramPalakkad	CherakombanMala1160	130	OlipuzhaVeliar	1122	Nil	3400	1137	43.2	Nil	Nil
11	Kallada	KollamPathanamthittaThiruvananthapuram	Karimalai1524m	121	KulathupuzhaChendruni	1699	Nil	2800	3374	40	Kallada	Kallada
12	Kallayi	Kozhikode	Cherikkulathur45m	40	Nil	96	Nil	3800	NA	9.6	Nil	Nil
13	Kamom	KollamThiruvananthapuram	NA/NA	27	Nil	114	Nil	2200	NA	1	Nil	Nil
14	Karamana	Thriruvananthapuram	NedumangadHills186m	68	KaviarThodiyar	702	Nil	2600	836	NA	Nil	Nil
15	Kariangode	KasargodKannur	Padinalkad1520m	64	MundorePadimalaholeAriakkadavuhole	429	132	3600	1156	24	kakkadavu(investigated)	Nil
16	Karuvannur	Thrissur	Pumalai1100m	40	ManaliKurumaliChimmani	1054	Nil	3200	1298	24	PeechiChimmani	Nil
17	Kavvayi	KasargodKannur	Cheemeni305m	31	Nil	143	Nil	3600	NA	9.6	Nil	Nil
18	Keecheri	Thrissur	MachadMala365m	51	Choondal Thodu	401	Nil	3000	1024	NA	Vazhani	Nil
19	Korapuzha	Kozhikode	Arikkankunni610m	40	AgalapuzhaPannurpuzha	624	Nil	3800	222	24.8	Nil	Nil
20	Kuppam	Kannur	Padinalkad1630m	82	Cheriya ThoduKuttikilpuzha	469	70	3600	1515	24	Nil	Nil
21	Kuttiyadi	Kozhikode	Narikotta1320m	74	OnipuzhaThottilapalamKannathil	583	Nil	4500	1273	9.6	Kuttiyadi	Kuttiyadi
22	Mahe	KannurandKozhikode	Wynadhills910	54	Nil	394	Nil	3900	248	24	Nil	Nil
23	Manimala	KottayamPathananthitta	Tatamala1156	90	KokayarElakkal Thodu	847	Nil	3300	1560	54.4	Nil	Nil
24	Manjeswar	Kasargod	Balepuni60m	15	Pavuru	90	nil	3478	309	3.2	nil	nil
25	Meenachil	Kottayam	Araikunnumudi1097m	78	KadapuzhaKalathukadavuKurisumalai	1272	Nil	3000	1059	41.6	Meenachil(investigated)	Nil
26	Mogral	Kasargod	Kanathur250m	34	Nettipadi,Muliyar	132	nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
27	Muvattupuzha	ErnakulamKottayam	Taragamkanam1094m	121	KallarThodupuzhaKothamangalam	1554	Nil	3100	3560	25.6	Malamkara	Nil
28	Neyyar	Thiruvananthapuram	AgasthyaHills1860m	56	KallarKaravaliyar	497	Nil	2300	207	NA	Neyyar	Nil
29	Nileswar	KasargodandKannur	Kinanur140m	46	AryangalBaigotehole	190	Nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
30	Pallikal	KollamPathanamthittaThiruvananthapuram	NA	42	NA	220	Nil	2800	NA	3	Nil	Nil
31	Pamba	PathanamthittaIdukkiAlapuzha	Pulachimalai1650m	176	KakkiyarKallarArudaiPamba	2235	Nil	3600	3423	73.6	Pamba	Sabarigiri
32	Periyar	IdukkiErnakulam	Sivagiri1830m	244	MuthirapuzhaIdamalayarMangalapuzhaPerinjankutty	5284	114	3200	4867	72	Idamalayar	SengulamNeriyamangalamPanniyarIdukki
33	Peruvamba	KasargodKannur	Pekkuru325m	51	Macharu ThoduMathamangalamChallachal	300	Nil	3600	1143	16	Nil	Nil
34	Puzhakkal	Thrissur	MachadMala525	29	Para ThoduNadu Thodu(etc.)	234	Nil	3000	1024	NA	Nil	Nil
35	Ramapuram	KasargodKannur	Iringal57m	19	Nil	52	Nil	3600	NA	5.4	Nil	Nil
36	Shiriya	Kasargod	Ankekundi230m	67	Kallanje ThoduKanyana ThoduEramathiholeKumbla	290	297	3700	1415	4.8	nil	nil
37	Thalasseri	Kannur	Kannoth550m	28	Dharmadompuzha	132	Nil	3500	155	21.6	Nil	Nil
38	Tirur	Malappuram	Atavanad86m	48	Vallilapuzha	117	Nil	3400	165	9.6	Nil	Nil
39	Uppala	Kasargod	Virakamba Hills150m	50	Uppala	76	174	3478	309	3.2	nil	nil
40	Valapattanam	Kannur	Brahmagiri1350m	110	ValiyapuzhaVenipuzha	1321	456	3600	4779	44.8	Aralam(Investigated)	Barapoli(Proposed)
41	Vamanapuram	KollamThiruvananthapuram	Chembunji1860	88	Nil	607	Nil	2200	1324	11.2	Nil	Nil

Note

: (a.s.l) = above sea level, m=meter, km=kilo meter, km2=square kilometers, mm=mill meter, Mm3=Million cubic meters

Sources:

(1) Water resource of Kerala
(2) Water Atlas of Kerala

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