How long is the parana river in argentina

It is also the tenth largest in the world in flow, draining much of South-Central South America, including part of five states of Brazil. Until its incursion into Argentine territory, four hydroelectric power plants-Jupia , Ilha Solteira , Porto Primavera, and Itaipu bar its course. In its path, just after the confluence with the River Paranapanema , Parana also waters the state of same name. In this stretch, it is worth noting a sub-basin of high interest to Itaipu , which drains part of the hydrographic network of the Parana state territory directly to its reservoir: the Parana River Basin III.

It has 8, km2 and encompasses all or part of 28 municipalities in the state. At the confluence of the Paraguay River, the river passes to water exclusively Argentine lands, draining into the River Plate, naming this important basin. When receiving also the waters of the Uruguay River, forms the fourth basin of the world: the Plate basin, with 3,, km2. Corrientes Argentina AFP —. South America's second longest river, the Parana, has dropped to its lowest level since the s, leaving environmentalists and experts worried that climate change is to blame.

The decrease has become so drastic that it is affecting commercial shipping, electricity generation, fishing, tourism, as well as the provision of water for drinking and irrigation. The effects even extend to the changing of topographies, soil and the mineral composition of the river's water.

Experts are baffled as to whether this is part of a natural cycle or the result of climate change. The Parana is linked to the Guarani aquifer -- one of the largest underwater fresh water sources in the world -- and runs for more than 4, kilometers 2, miles through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

It merges with the Paraguay and Uruguay rivers, forming the Rio de la Plata before emptying out into the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, it splits into several arms and forms the Parana Delta wetlands in Argentina, feeding many agricultural plains.

While the main branch of the river continues to flow, in its network of irrigation channels "only 10 to 20 percent have water, the rest are dry," said Ramonell. Obviously it is due to a lack of rains, but what provoked that? Goods have to be transported by land to the Paraguay river, which quadruples the cost," Juan Carlos Munoz, director of the Paraguayan riverboat owners association, told AFP.

Some 4, barges, tug boats and container carriers were waiting for the river level to rise. In May, Brazil exceptionally opened its dams to allow hundreds of barges to pass downstream, but the river level has since dropped too low. The Parana's average flow rate is 17, cubic meters a second, but that has dropped to just 6, -- barely above the record low of 5, recorded in