Rivers of Mexico (original) (raw)

Elsevier eBooks, 2005

Abstract

This chapter discusses the physical and biological features of five major Mexican rivers—the Rio Panuco, Usumacinta–Grijalva rivers, Rio Candelaria, the Yaqui, and the Rio Conchos. Five additional rivers—the Chihuahuan Desert's Rio Salado; the Rio Tamesi, which joins the Rio Panuco near its mouth; the Rio Fuerte, which flows through some of the continent's largest canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental to the Gulf of California south of the Yaqui and Mayo rivers; the Ayuquila–Armeria river system, which empties into the Pacific Ocean; and the Rio Lacanja, a small mountainous tributary of the Usumacinta—are also briefly reviewed. The history of human impacts on Mexico's rivers includes many groups of prehistoric inhabitants. Mexico's major rivers are highly exploited. Construction of dams, primarily for crop irrigation in otherwise desert environments, is one of the major factors. Water pollution from discharge of domestic wastes, high salinity, and nutrients from irrigation returns, mining, and industrial wastes is widespread throughout Mexico. With the increase in population and associated land-use change and generally limited resources available for conservation of natural resources the scenario of the rivers are becoming much worse.

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