Geography
The river is long from its source at the Burgos and Alava provincial limits to the sea and runs in a South to North direction. Soon after its source, the river forms a spectacular waterfall in the Delika canyon (Alava) and then enters the Bizkaia, Biscay province through the city of Orduña. This waterfall is the largest in Spain with its 222 metres. It re-enters Alava through the towns of Amurrio and Laudio-Llodio, Llodio. The river then runs back into Biscay province and out to the Bay of Biscay, Cantabrian sea, entering the Gran Bilbao, Bilbao metropolitan area at Ugao-Miraballes. The tide, tidal influence reaches inland from the sea, in Bilbao's old town. The main tributary, tributaries are: * From the west:''Cadagua'' and ''Galindo''. * From the east: ''Arratia'', ''Ibaizabal'' and ''Asua''. The Ibaizabal is considered by some to be an equally important river, so the whole system is often called Nervión-Ibaizabal and the final tract just "''Estuary of Bilbao''". The basin area is .Naming
Despite its current popularity in Spanish language, Spanish, the traditional name of the stretch between the estuary and Basauri, where the Ibaizabal and Nervión merge, is ''Ibaizabal'' (meaning 'wide river' in Basque language, Basque), according to historical evidence traced from the eleventh century up to the twentieth. Charles Frederick Henningsen, who travelled across the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country during the First Carlist War, calls the river in Bilbao the Ibaizabal. The literary writer from Bilbao Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) as well as former mayor of Bilbao Javier Ybarra (1913–1977) refer to it as the Ibaizabal. Geological and hydrological data also seem to support this assumption. Article in BasqueHistory and economy
Since ancient times, the Orduña pass that links Spain's inner plateau with the Nervión valley has had a great economic impact. During the Middle Ages it served as a natural border between the Biscay lordship and Castile counties, and tolls were collected there. Through the centuries, the Nervión valley was a vital communication corridor for Biscay, and the main rail line from Bilbao to the rest of Spain was constructed following the river in 1870. At the same time, Bilbao developed great commercial activity, with its Port of Bilbao, seaport being the most important on the north coast of Spain. The port's activity relied totally on the navigability of the river in its final . Engineer Evaristo de Churruca y Brunet, Evaristo Churruca developed an enormous project that would solve the traditional navigation problems of the river. The estuary divided the population of Greater Bilbao; the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank was occupied by factories (steel, smelting and shipbuilding) and their workers, the Right Bank (Biscay), Right Bank was a residential area for the factory owners. Now that the River Nervión has lost economic importance, the navigable part of the river is being abandoned in favour of the sea port, to allow urban development to take place on the banks of the river after the withdrawal of heavy industry. The quality of the water has improved through sanitization projects on the river and the disappearance of the most polluting industries.Environment
After a century of intense industrial activity the river, especially the final , was ecologically dead with oxygen levels 20 percent below the norm. This made the Nervión one of the most polluted rivers in the world. In 1990 the local authorities launched a plan to overcome this situation, resulting in a constant improvement of the environmental status that after 15 years has transformed the Nervión in to a clean river, full of aquatic life.See also
* List of rivers of SpainReferences
External links