The Maggia is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. The springs are near the

Cristallina The Cristallina is a mountain of the Lepontine Alps, located in the Swiss canton of Ticino. It is situated between the valleys of Leventina, Val Bavona and Valle di Peccia (the latter two belonging to the Valle Maggia Valle Maggia (Italian, "Mag ...

mountain at 8136 ft (2480 m). The river runs through the

Val Sambuco Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

, the

Val Lavizzara Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

, and the

Valle Maggia Valle Maggia (Italian, "Maggia Valley") is an alpine valley in the Vallemaggia district of canton of Ticino, the Italian-spoken canton of Switzerland. The valley is formed by the river Maggia and is situated between the Centovalli and Lago Maggio ...

, and enters

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

between

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( lmo, label= Ticinese, Scona ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yea ...

and

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

. The village Maggia is situated on the river. The river is used for

hydroelectric power 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 ...

production, e.g. with the dams of

Lago del Narèt __NOTOC__ Lago del Narèt is a lake in Val Sambuco, Ticino, Switzerland. Its surface area is . It is located in the municipality of Lavizzara. The closest village is Fusio. See also *List of lakes of Switzerland *List of mountain lakes of Switzerl ...

and

Lago del Sambuco __NOTOC__ Lago del Sambuco is a reservoir above Fusio, in the municipality of Lavizzara, Ticino, Switzerland. Its surface area is 1.11 km². The dam of Sambuco on the Maggia River was completed in 1956. Its maximum height is 130 m and length 363 m ...

near the sources. The Maggia river is a popular

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

spot due to its crystal clear waters. The name of the river derives from the name of the village Maggia. In the 1990s the river had a European record: the river that grew fastest during rains. This characteristic led to many tragedies in the past. One involved the collapse of a bridge connecting the old Maggia to Aurigeno and Moghegno which killed many people in the 1970s.

References

External links

Ofima
electricity producer Rivers of Ticino Rivers of Switzerland {{Switzerland-river-stub