The Noguera Pallaresa (; oc, Noguèra Palharesa, ) is a river in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Spain. It is named after the Pallars region.

Course

Its source is at ''Era Font d'era Noguereta'' in the municipality of

Naut Aran Naut Aran () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Val d'Aran in Catalonia, Spain. It is the second largest municipality in Catalonia in terms of surface area (225.8 km², behind Tremp), and was created in 1967 by the merger of the mun ...

(

Aran Valley Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in are ...

) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of about and barely from those of the

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

. While the Garonne flows toward the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, the Noguera Pallaresa flows to the Segre, and enters that river from the right just before the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

of Camarasa ( Noguera): its waters then flow to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. The Noguera Pallaresa is dammed at several points, including

Talarn Dam Talarn () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Pallars Jussà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the centre of the Tremp basin, on the Noguera Pallaresa river below the Sant Antoni reservoir. It is the site of a hydroelectric power s ...

, and the largest reservoirs are La Torassa (between Esterri d'Àneu and La Guingueta d'Àneu in the

Pallars Sobirà Pallars Sobirà () is a comarca (comparable to a county or shire in much of the English-speaking world) in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous (and less mountain ...

), Sant Antoni (above

Talarn Talarn () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Pallars Jussà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the centre of the Tremp basin, on the Noguera Pallaresa river below the Sant Antoni reservoir. It is the site of a hydroelectric power s ...

in the

Pallars Jussà Pallars Jussà () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It was established as a ''comarca'' in 1936, out of the old county of Pallars. The name means "Lower Pallars"; to the northeast and into the mountains is Pallars Sobirà. Its capital a ...

), Terradets (in the municipality of

Àger Àger is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Noguera in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the north-west of the ''comarca'', and the territory of the municipality stretches between the Noguera Ribagorçana and Noguera Pallaresa rivers. The ...

in the Noguera) and Camarasa (just above the confluence with the Segre).

Wildwater sports

Between the dam in the reservoir Panta de la Torrassa and the lake Panta de Sant Antoni the river is a favourite course for wildwater canoeing and rafting. During spring and summer the river falls dry at night, but in the morning the weir is opened and in several hours makes it a rather voluminous river with wild water class 2, 3 and 4 rapids. In the evening the weir is closed again.

Course

Wildwater sports

See also