The Guanajuato's River ( es, Rio Guanajuato) is a tributary of the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, nea ...

in the central near region of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

called the Bajio (Lowlands). The river begins in the

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

-rich Guanajuato mountains near the state capital of

Guanajuato City Guanajuato () is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Guanajuato in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. It is part of the macroregion of the Bajío. It is in a narrow valley, which makes its streets narrow a ...

. The river is fed by the Guanajuato river basinca (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''cuenca'') (a sub-basin to the much larger Lerma–Chapala Basin) and has an area of 3,320 km², which makes up approximately 10.32% of the total area of the state. There are approximately 900,000 people living in the Guanajuato River basin area, in the municipalities of Guanajuato,

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of ...

, Romita, San Francisco del Rincon, Manuel Doblado and Pueblo Nuevo.

History/Culture

The river used to run underneath the capital city of Guanajuato. It used to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

the downtown area with alarming frequency until a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

( Presa de la Purisima) was built in the 1960s to contain it. The famous Underground Street, officially known as Calle Miguel Hidalgo, in Guanajuato now follows the original course of the river where it ran in tunnels underneath the city. There is another dam above the city called the ''Presa de la Olla'' (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Pot Dam). The dam, which was inaugurated in 1749, was built to create a reservoir to provide the city with a constant supply of water. Every year on the first Monday in July, the dam's

floodgates Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and ...

are opened as part of a yearly festival (in

: ''Apertura de la Presa''). Originally the dam was opened to clean the river which runs through the city. It is now a standing Guanajuato tradition.

References

Rivers of Guanajuato Lerma River {{Mexico-river-stub