The Sumapaz River ( es, Río Sumapaz) is a major tributary of the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The long river originates in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leagu ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

at the largest

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

in the world;

Sumapaz Sumapaz is the 20th locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is the largest of Bogotá's 20 localities, starting in the north at the edge of the urban frontier with Usme and stretching to the south at the border of Cundinamarca with the depar ...

, of which it takes its name. It forms the natural boundary between the departments of Cundinamarca and Tolima.

Course

The Sumapaz River flows through the

Magdalena Valley montane forests The Magdalena Valley montane forests (NT0136) is an ecoregion in the Andes mountains of central Colombia. Geography Location The ecoregion covers the higher land on both sides of the valley of the Magdalena River in the Colombian Andes. The ri ...

ecoregion in its upper reaches. The Sumapaz River flows through the department of Cundinamarca. It takes its name from its place of birth in the Sumapaz Páramo, the largest

in the world, in the rural zone of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. It is one of the main tributaries of the upper course of the Magdalena River
Río Magdalena
/ref> In ancient times, it was known as the Fusagasugá River, with a length of . The lower reaches of the Fusagasugá River become the Sumapaz after the confluence of the Chocho and Cuja. The river and its tributaries, the Gobernador, Bejucal, San Juan, Negro, Guavio, Batán, Juan Viejo, Corrales, Bosque, Colorado, Barroblanco, Subia or Chocho, Panches and Pagüey all originate in the Sumapaz and San Fortunato páramos, apart from the Pagüey. The Fusagasugá valley is known for its pleasant climate and the surrounding hills. There was a Fusagasugá Lagoon, which probably drained through the Melgar Valley. The river crosses the municipalities of Cabrera, Venecia, Pandi,

Icononzo Icononzo () is a municipality located in the department of Tolima in Colombia. The average temperature is 21°F (-6°C), altitude 1304 metres (4278'). History In 1875 there was the community of Guamitos inherited by Don Vicente Reyes Daza. ...

, Nilo, Melgar and Ricaurte. It forms the natural boundary between the departments of Tolima and Cundinamarca.

Physical and natural aspects

The Sumapaz River can be divided into three sections: source, middle and lower valley. The source is in the Sumapaz Páramo, the world's largest

, and one of the most important sources of water, supplying the southern part of the Cundinamarca and important towns in the Tolima department. The middle course of the river drops from above sea level before reaching the lower valley formed by the river in the municipality of Melgar, which extends to its mouth on the Magdalena River in the municipality of Ricaurte.

Tourism

The municipalities of Pandi, Melgar and Ricaurte are in the lower valley. These hold vacation spots for the people of the capital of Colombia, Bogotá, drawn by the warm climate and important tourist sites and hotels. In recent years, adventure sports like river rafting have become popular. The Icononzo natural bridge is an important natural attraction, a geological formation of great beauty and complexity that was once visited by the German naturalist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

and that was once considered one of the hundred natural wonders of the world.

Future hydroelectric project

Since 2010, the power generation company Emgesa, a subsidiary of the Italian company Enel, has been conducting pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for construction of eight small hydroelectric power plants along the stretch of the Sumapaz between the mouth of the San Juan River and the Las Lajas gorge, in the municipalities of Cabrera, Venice and Pandi in the department of Cundinamarca, and the municipality of Icononzo in Tolima.

References

Bibliography