The Río Salado, also Río Salado de los Nadadores, or Salado River, is a river in northern Mexico, a tributary of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

''(Río Bravo)''. Its basin extends across the northern portion of

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas states. It originates in 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 ...

in Coahuila and flows east-northeastward. It is joined by the Rio Sabinas in the reservoir created by the

Venustiano Carranza Dam José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a February ...

. The Salado flows southeast from the reservoir through northern Nuevo León and northwestern Tamaulipas, where it is joined by the

Sabinas Hidalgo River The Sabinas Hidalgo River is a river of Mexico. It is a tributary of the Rio Salado, which in turn flows into the Rio Grande. See also * List of rivers of Mexico * List of tributaries of the Rio Grande Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarc ...

, to join the Rio Grande in the

Falcón Reservoir Falcon International Reservoir ( es, Embalse Internacional Falcón), commonly called Falcon Lake, is a reservoir on the Rio Grande 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Laredo, Texas, United States, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The huge lake ...

, at Rio Grande river kilometer 43.

Economic importance

The river is used mainly for agricultural and mining activity, especially for irrigation of cotton. Fishing has been increasing because some species have been introduced such as gizzard shad, largemouth bass and white bass, among others. Water lilies have also been introduced.

Environmental impact

The river faces a number of problems related to mismanagement. There is no system to regulate the exploitation of resources found there.

References

Rivers of Tamaulipas Tributaries of the Rio Grande {{Mexico-river-stub