The Río Conchos (Conchos River) is a large river in the
Mexican state of
Chihuahua. It joins the
Río Bravo del Norte
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
(known in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
as the Rio Grande) at the town of
Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
Description
The Rio Conchos is the main river in the state of Chihuahua and the Rio Grande's largest tributary.
It is one of the most important river systems in all of northern Mexico.
The Conchos has several reservoirs that make use of its water for agricultural and hydropower uses.
Course
The Conchos rises in the
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...
in the municipality of
Bocoyna, Chihuahua, where it heads east and receives several tributaries along the way. At
Valle de Zaragoza
Valle de Zaragoza is a settlement in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Valle de Zaragoza. Ranchera singer Francisco Avitia was born in Valle de Zaragoza.
As of 2010, the town of V ...
municipality, Chihuahua, it is stopped at the
La Boquilla Dam, the largest in Chihuahua forming
Toronto Lake. It then heads east again, forming Colina Lake and then passes through
Camargo, Chihuahua
Santa Rosalía de Camargo, originally called Santa Rosalía, and now known as "Ciudad Camargo" (Camargo City), is a city in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, located at the confluence of the Rio Parral and the Rio Conchos in the ...
, the main agricultural center in the region, where it receives the
Florido as a tributary.
From there, the Conchos heads north, receiving the San Pedro near
Delicias, Chihuahua
Delicias (Spanish for ''Delights'') is a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and serves as the seat of the municipality of the same name. It is located southeast of the state capital, Chihuahua. Delicias was declared an official municipality of ...
, entering the Chihuahua Desert and cutting a path through it, before turning to the northeast. At
Aldama, Chihuahua
Aldama is a city and seat of the municipality of Aldama in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2020, the city had a population of 22,568 inhabitants.
History
The city of Aldama dates from August 7, 1671, when Captain Pedro Cano de l ...
, it is dammed by the
Presa El Granero, then cuts through the Peguis Canyon, before forming a last dam (Toribio Ortega) near
Ojinaga
Ojinaga (Manuel Ojinaga) is a town and seat of the municipality of Ojinaga, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2015, the town had a total population of 28,040. It is a rural border town on the U.S.-Mexico border, with the city o ...
. At Ojinaga, it joins the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande in the U.S.).
Ecology
The
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
(WWF) has included the Rio Conchos in its
Global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...
Freshwater Ecoregions assessment. The Global 200 is a list of
freshwater ecoregions
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...
(rivers systems and lakes, for example) that the WWF considers of global importance for
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
conservation. The WWF's assessment of the Rio Conchos rates its biological distinctiveness as "globally outstanding" and its conservation status as critically endangered, putting it in the "priority I" category of needing conservation attention.
The Rio Conchos contains the only free-flowing large river environment left in the Rio Grande drainage basin. Its river and
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
habitat ecosystems are relatively intact and support a highly
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
fish fauna.
[De la Maza-Benignos, M. (ed). 2009. Los Peces del Río Conchos. Alianza World Wildlife Fund-Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/peces2010_web.pdf] Twelve of its forty-seven native fish are endemic, as are twelve of its 46 native reptile and amphibian pecies. The strong biodiversity has survived in part because the river's ecology has not been affected by
channel modifications. The Rio Conchos region is significant not only for its surface water biota, but also its specialized spring and cave habitats, which contribute to the region's high endemism. However, conditions are being damaged by industrial pollution, sewage, agricultural wastes, flow regulation,
exotic species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
, and
overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
. Other threats include poor land and water management practices, such as clear-cutting along the upper Rio Conchos.
[
]
See also
* List of rivers of Mexico
This is a list of rivers of Mexico, listed from north to south. There are 246 rivers on this list. Alternate names for rivers are given in parentheses.
Rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico
* Río Bravo, the name of the Rio Grande in Mexico
** S ...
* List of longest rivers of Mexico
Among the longest rivers of Mexico are 26 streams of at least . In the case of rivers such as the Colorado, the length listed in the table below is solely that of the main stem. In the case of the Grijalva and Usumacinta, it is the combined leng ...
* List of tributaries of the Rio Grande
Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Rio Grande upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted.
* San Juan River, or Rio San Juan (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila)
** Marte R. Góme ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conchos
Conchos
Tributaries of the Rio Grande
Rivers of the Sierra Madre Occidental
Rivers of Chihuahua (state)
Chihuahuan Desert
Natural history of the Mexican Plateau