The Necaxa River (''Río Necaxa'') is one of the main rivers of the Mexican

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

. It is a tributary of the

Tecolutla River The Tecolutla River is a river in the state of Veracruz in Mexico, and the main drainage of the historical and cultural region of Totonacapan. It is principally fed by four rivers that rise in the Sierra Norte de Puebla: from north to south, they ...

. Beginning south of

Huauchinango Huauchinango is a city in Huauchinango Municipality located in the far north of the state of Puebla in central Mexico. It is located in the rugged Sierra Norte de Puebla mountain region, filled with peaks, ravines and rivers that form waterfalls. ...

with the name Totolapa, it runs through tall mountains and deep canyons of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

, forming the waterfalls known as Salto Chico y Salto Grande. Its flow is also used to generate hydroelectric power.

Geography

The Necaxa River rises along the boundary of

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

and

states, and flows eastwards through the

of Puebla and

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. It joins the Apulco River in

Espinal, Veracruz Espinal is a municipality that is located in the central area of the state of Veracruz in the Totonaca Region Totonaca Region is one of the regions of Veracruz, Mexico. References Regions of Veracruz {{coord missing, Veracruz .... It ...

to form the

, which empties into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. Together with four other rivers, the El Tejocotal, Los Reyes, Patla, and Tenango, the Necaxa produces a total of 172 million litres of water generating electrical power not only for Puebla, but for the states of

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...

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 ...

, and the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...

, in addition to many people in the center of the country. Five dams were built in the Necaxa River basin for water storage and producing

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, 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 Renewabl ...

. Small-scale forestry takes place in the watershed.

Flora and fauna

The river basin's reservoirs are habitat for

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

, including the

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...

(''Ardea alba''),

snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, app ...

(''Egretta thula''),

little blue heron The little blue heron (''Egretta caerulea'') is a small heron of the genus ''Egretta''. It is a small, darkly colored heron with a two-toned bill. Juveniles are entirely white, bearing resemblance to the snowy egret. During the breeding season ...

(''Egretta caerulea''),

neotropic cormorant The neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant (''Nannopterum brasilianum'') is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the United States so ...

(''Phalacrocorax olivaceus''),

ringed kingfisher The ringed kingfisher (''Megaceryle torquata'') is a large, conspicuous and noisy kingfisher bird commonly found along the lower Rio Grande valley in southeasternmost Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in Sout ...

(''Megaceryle torquata''), and

green kingfisher The green kingfisher (''Chloroceryle americana'') is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found from southern Texas in the United States south through Central America, in every mainland South Amer ...

(''Chloroceryle americana''). Endangered species found in the river and its basin include the Puebla frog (''Lithobates pueblae'') and the tree fern ''

Cyathea mexicana ''Alsophila firma'', commonly known as the maquique fern (, ), is a deciduous tree fern in the family Cyatheaceae endemic to Mexico, other countries of Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador. In the cloud forests of Mexico, it is considered an emb ...

''.

Zona Protectora Forestal Vedada Cuenca Hidrográfica del Río Necaxa

On 20 October 1938, President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...

decreed the Necaxa River basin in Hidalgo and Puebla a protected forest zone (''zona protectora forestal'') in order to preserve the basin's forests and climate, prevent soil erosion, and stabilize the rivers' flow for production of hydroelectricity. The protected forest zone covers an area of 421.29 km² in the municipalities of

Acaxochitlán Acaxochitlán is one of the 84 municipalities of the state of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 226.1 km². As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,892. Acaxochitlan has three languages ...

Cuautepec de Hinojosa Cuautepec de Hinojosa is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern ...

Naupan Naupan Municipality is a municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is ...

Juan Galindo Juan Galindo (1802 – 30 January 1840) was an Anglo-Irish political activist and military and administrative officer under the Liberal government of the Federal Republic of Central America. He represented the government in a diplomatic mission t ...

, Xochiltepec,

Zihuateutla Zihuateutla (municipality) is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in south-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the sou ...

Tlaola Tlaola (municipality) is a town and municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North Ame ...

, Chiconcuautla, Jolalpan,

Zacatlán Zacatlán () is a city and municipal seat of Zacatlán Municipality located in the Sierra Norte de Puebla region of Puebla in central Mexico. The area is known for its production of apples, other fruit, cider and fruit wines, which are promoted th ...

, and Ahuazotepec."Zona Protectora Forestal Vedada Cuenca Hidrográfica del Río Necaxa". National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), Government of Mexico. Accessed 7 October 2021

/ref> On 9 September 2002 the Mexican government re-designated the basin a natural resources protection areas of Mexico, natural resources protection area. The five reservoirs in the basin were designated a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, take the Mexico-Tuxpan road and drive to

Tulancingo Tulancingo (officially Tulancingo de Bravo; Otomi language, Otomi: Ngu̱hmu) is the second-largest city in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo. It is located in the southeastern part of the state and also forms ...

. Then drive to

with final destination to "El Salto" (the location of a CFE's hydroelectric plant).

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Mexico Rivers of Puebla Rivers of Veracruz Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Natural resources protection areas of Mexico Ramsar sites in Mexico Protected areas of Hidalgo (state) Protected areas of Puebla Sierra Madre Oriental