The Santa Catarina River (''Río Santa Catarina'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) is a river and a State Protected Natural Area in

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

; a tributary of the San Juan River and the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, it flows through the

Monterrey metropolitan area The Monterrey metropolitan area, also known as Greater Monterrey, refers to the surrounding urban agglomeration of Monterrey, Nuevo León. Officially called , the metropolitan area is the Metropolitan areas of Mexico, 2nd-largest in Mexico. Ove ...

History

The Santa Catarina River made the establishment of

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

and its metropolitan area possible and generated an economic system based on agriculture and livestock; on the other hand, it has also brought numerous floods. In 1596, the river was mentioned by

Diego de Montemayor Diego de Montemayor ( – 1611) was a Spanish conquistador, explorer, officer, and the governor of Nuevo Reino de León. Early life Historians dispute his date of birth, place of birth, and the identity of his parents. However, Antonio Mora ...

in the founding document of the capital of Nuevo León: In July 2010, Hurricane Alex caused severe flooding, landslides, and damage to homes, bridges, roads, and other infrastructure. Constitución and Ignacio Morones Prieto avenues, which run alongside the river, had to be redesigned and rebuilt. The 2007 linear park disappeared completely, along with other sports facilities and the market under the Puente del Papa. After the hurricane, no more sports or commercial facilities were built on the riverbed, allowing the ecosystem to recover.

Route

The Santa Catarina River rises 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 ...

within the

Cumbres de Monterrey National Park The Cumbres de Monterrey (, ; English: "Summits of Monterrey") is a national park of Mexico located in the northern portion of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila, near the city of Monterrey. The park protects more ...

, near San José de las Boquillas in municipality of Santiago, at more than 2,200 meters above sea level, collecting the waters of municipality of Arteaga in the Sierra El Álamo, Cerro Rancho Nuevo and Sierra de la Viga, then those of Sierra San Isidro, Sierra San Juan Bautista, Sierra San Cristóbal and Sierra Mauricio. The river passes through El Salto de Ciénega de González and then enters Santa Catarina through the San Cristóbal canyon, crossing a long and narrow canyon between the foothills of the Sierra Agua del Toro, Cerro El Magueyal and Sierra de San Urbano, passing through some towns in Santa Catarina such as San Cristóbal, El Marrubial, Tinajas, El Alto, los García, Buenos Aires, Nogales and Horcones, from there to the mouth of

La Huasteca La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region located partially along the Gulf of Mexico and including parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Guanajuato. It is roughly defined as the ar ...

, collecting the waters of 32 canyons (El Pajonal Canyon, La Mielera Canyon, Santa Juliana Canyon, Sandías Canyon, Salazar Canyon, San Pablo Canyon, Las Escaleras Canyon, etc.) that in turn receive water from several municipalities in Nuevo León and

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. The river emerges from the gorges between the

Cerro de Chipinque The Cerro de Chipinque is a mountain in the San Pedro Garza García, Monterrey and Santa Catarina municipalities; state of Nuevo León, Mexico. The mountain is part of the Sierra Madre Oriental range and the Cumbres de Monterrey National Park. T ...

and Cerro de Santa Catarina to cross the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey and then in

San Pedro Garza García San Pedro Garza García (also known as San Pedro) is a city-municipality in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Nuevo León and part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. It is a contemporary commercial suburb of the larger met ...

; where the Jesús María mills were located, it is fed by the waters of the Obispo stream, which fall from Cerro de las Mitras, enters Monterrey between San Jerónimo and Loma Larga, crosses between the center of Monterrey and Colonia Independencia, then towards Guadalupe where it is joined by the La Silla River with the waters of

Cerro de la Silla The Cerro de la Silla (''"Saddle Hill"'') is a mountain and natural monument, It is part of the foothills system of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It is found covering territorial parts of the municipalities of Guadalupe (31.62%), Monterrey (13.23% ...

, crosses the municipality of Juárez; until in Cadereyta it joins as a tributary of the San Juan River and then flows into the Rio Grande and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

References

{{reflist Rivers of Nuevo León Protected areas of Nuevo León