The San Juan River is, together with the Jáchal, the most important river of the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

province of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. Both join the Desaguadero/ Colorado system that ends at the Atlantic Ocean.

Course

The river starts near the town of Calingasta, in the southwest of the province, from the confluence of three main rivers: the

Calingasta River The Calingasta River is a river of Argentina. See also *List of rivers of Argentina This is a list of rivers of Argentina. Longest Rivers By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under ...

, the Castaño Viejo River, and the

Río de los Patos The Río de los Patos is a river of Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-la ...

. These rivers are born at an altitude of about above mean sea level in the west and southwest of the province (in contrast, the Jáchal receives its Andean tributaries from the north of the province). From Calingasta the river flows eastwards feeding the Los Caracoles, Punta Negra and Quebrada de Ullum Dams (''Embalse Quebrada de Ullum'') located near

city, from which it continues south-eastwards receiving a few more tributaries, including the Mendoza River, to later join the Desaguadero River near the ''Salina Pampa de las Latas'' (or ''Salina Bermejo''), at the common border of the provinces of San Juan, Mendoza and

San Luis San Luis (Spanish for "Saint Louis") may refer to: Places Argentina * San Luis Province * San Luis, Argentina, capital of San Luis Province Belize * San Luis, Belize, in Orange Walk District Colombia * San Luis, Antioquia, a town and municipality ...

. The river has an average flow of . Its course is long, and its drainage basin covers an area of . The Ullum Dam is AMSL with a reservoir covering an area of and a volume of around . The upper course of the river is used for water sports such as rafting and fishing, and windsurfing and swimming at the Ullum Dam. Along its whole length, the San Juan River is heavily used for irrigation.

External links

Rivers of Argentina Rivers of San Juan Province, Argentina {{Argentina-river-stub