The Impero is a stream of

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Geography

The Impero rises near Monte Grande, crosses the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

s of

Aurigo Aurigo ( lij, Aurigu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Aurigo borders the following municipalities: Borgomaro, Pieve di T ...

, Borgomaro,

Lucinasco Lucinasco ( lij, Lücinascu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 268 and an ar ...

Chiusavecchia Chiusavecchia ( lij, Ciusaveia) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italy, Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia (city), Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a pop ...

Chiusanico Chiusanico ( lij, Ciuxanego, locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Chiusanico borders the following municipalities ...

and

Pontedassio Pontedassio ( lij, Puntedassce or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria. It is located about southwest of Genoa and about north of Imperia. As of December 31, 2004, it has a population of 2,159 ...

, giving its name to its valley, and ends in the

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient L ...

Oneglia Oneglia ( lij, Inêia or ) is a former town in northern Italy on the Ligurian coast, in 1923 joined to Porto Maurizio to form the Comune of Imperia. The name is still used for the suburb.Roy Palmer Domenico, ''The regions of Italy: a reference gu ...

( IM). Impero basin (95 km2) is totally included in the

Province of Imperia The Province of Imperia ( it, Provincia di Imperia, french: Province d'Imperia, Ligurian: ''Provinsa d’Imperia'') is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the L ...

and also encompasses the communes of

Cesio Cesio ( lij, Cexi) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Cesio borders the following municipalities: Caravonica, Casanova Le ...

and Caravonica.

Main tributaries

Upper valley

Upstream of the village of San Lazzaro Reale ( Borgomaro) the Impero (sometimes referred as ''Maro'' in this stretch) receives the following tributaries: *

right hand In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

: ** rio Butasso, ** rio Noceto, ** rio Ponte, ** rio Ciappa, ** rio Rovera, ** rio Pian Cappello ** rio Fonti del Maro; * left hand: ** rio Calanche, ** rio Lavandè, ** rio Lacori. ** rio Cardei.

Rio Trexenda

The ''Tresenda'' (or ''Trexenda'') is the main tributary of the Impero; it rises with the name of ''rio Caravonica'' from monte Mucchio di Pietre and gets from its right bank Rio Bramoso and Rio Acquafredda. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

is of 13.3

square kilometre Square kilometre ( International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square kilometer (American spelling), symbol km2, is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. 1 km2 is eq ...

Lower valley

Downstream San Lazzaro Reale, where it gets Tresenda waters, the Impero receives the following streams:some of them are totally dry several months a year * right hand: ** rio Maddalena, ** rio Olivastri, ** rio Baghi, ** rio Delle Ville, ** rio Ramà; * left hand: ** rio Lavandero, ** rio Candelero, ** rio Viesci, ** rio Rocca. ** rio Sgoreto.

Fishing

The Impero is not considered very interesting for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

; upstream of Borgomaro

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

coexist with

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

s, while downstream the latter totally outnumber other fishes.