The Agus River is a river that flows for from Lanao Lake to

Iligan Bay Iligan Bay is a bay in Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Bohol Sea, and curves into the northern coast of Mindanao Island. A branch of the bay, Panguil Bay, forms a natural isthmus with Illana Bay and geographic bound ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It cuts through the provinces of

Lanao del Sur Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...

and

Lanao del Norte Lanao del Norte ( Cebuano: ''Amihanang Lanao''; tl, Hilagang Lanao; Maranao: ''Pangotaraan Ranao''), officially the Province of Lanao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Northern Mindanao region. Its capital is Tubod. ...

. Settlements along the banks of the river include the City of Marawi, the Municipality of Linamon and the City of Iligan. It separates into two channels as it drains to Iligan Bay; one going over the

Maria Cristina Falls Maria Cristina Falls is a waterfall of the Agus River in the Northern Mindanao region of the Philippines. It is sometimes called the "twin falls" as the flow is separated by a rock at the brink of the waterfall. It is located 9.3 kilometers a ...

while the other supplies the

Tinago Falls Tinago Falls is a waterfall on the Agus River, located in between the town of Linamon and Iligan City, Lanao del Norte in the northern part of the Philippine island of Mindanao. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Iligan, a city known a ...

. The river descends for about from its source as it flows for before draining to the sea. The river is relatively shallow as it is only deep in some areas. The Agus River's watershed spans about 11,320.00 hectares. In 1992, the National Power Corporation financed the

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debat ...

of the Lake Lanao-Agus River watershed, planting over 1500 hectares of ''

Acacia mangium ''Acacia mangium'' is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to northeastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands. Common names include black ...

'', ''

Durio zibethinus ''Durio zibethinus'' is the most common tree species in the genus '' Durio'' that are known as durian and have edible fruit also known as durian. As with most other durian species, the edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and pe ...

'' and other indigenous trees. It has a discharge of about and flows from a narrow depression off the northwestern rim of the lake and flows over a basalt rock formation. The canyon carved by the river suggests a short erosional period.

Importance to humans

The lake and the river are used for both commercial and sport fishing, as well as for recreational activities such as boating and swimming. The river in its entirety, however, is not navigable because the current in some areas reaches a velocity of up to thirty miles an hour. The

NAPOCOR The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of ...

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

project on the Agus River generates 70% of the electricity used in Mindanao due to the hydroelectric plants in the river and Maria Cristina Falls. However, the hydroelectric plants and the requisite regulatory dams have changed the fluctuations of the water level of Lake Lanao, affecting the indigenous people, producing conflicts with the local population. In

Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...

mythology, Lake Lanao once threatened to drown the people of Sebangan with its ever-rising waters. The

Archangel Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

is thought to have made the Agus river in order to drain the lake.

References

{{Principal Rivers of the Philippines Rivers of the Philippines Landforms of Lanao del Norte Landforms of Lanao del Sur