The Tâmega (; cel-x-proto, Tamaca) or Támega () is a river in
Galicia, Spain
Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and P ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. It begins its course near
Verín
Verín is a town and municipality in the southeast of the province of Ourense, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The population of the municipality is about 14,433. It is located 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Ourense an ...
,
Galicia, Spain, and flows to Portugal in the provinces of
Trás-os-Montes and
Douro Litoral
Douro Litoral () is a historical province of Portugal. It is centered on the city of Porto, now the capital of the Norte Region. Other important cities in the province are Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia, Póvoa de Varzim, and the historical ...
.
The Tâmega River is a tributary of the
Douro River
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
. From Verín, it flows south to Portuguese city of
Chaves; then it flows through a fertile valley called the Veiga. Below Chaves the river narrows to pass through mountains and valleys. Owing to low water level and frequent small dams it is not navigable, passing through the cities of
Amarante and
Marco de Canaveses
Marco de Canaveses () is a city and municipality on Porto district, in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 53,450, in an area of 201.89 km². The city itself had a population of 9,042 in 2001.
Geography
The city of Marco Canaves ...
, flowing in the Douro River, near Entre-os-Rios: in fact Entre-os-Rios means between the rivers.
The Tâmega is more important historically than economically. It has always served as an invasion route for foreign armies intent on reaching the richer southern lands of Portugal. The valley around Chaves has especially seen its share of battles and invading armies.
Like many rivers, the Tâmega suffers from pollution and the ravages of sand and gravel extraction companies. The quality of the water has deteriorated greatly. Another problem is the periodic occurrence of flooding.
Since the completion of the Torrão dam in 1988 less than 1 kilometre above the Douro river and the town of Entre-os-Rios in the municipality of Marco de Canaveses, the Tâmega has been recovering slowly from the effects of pollution.
Sand extraction
Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concre ...
activities have been prohibited and many upstream cities installed modern sewage treatment plants.
A new dam is planned between the city of
Amarante and the town of
Mondim de Basto
Mondim de Basto () is a municipality in the district of Vila Real in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,493, in an area of 172.08 km2.
The present Mayor is Bruno Ferreira, elected by the psd Party. The municipal holiday is July 25.
Pari ...
. Besides producing electricity, the project will have feature a flood control system that will divert the waterflow towards the smaller Olo River. A 220 MW
pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...
facility started operating in 2022, storing 40 GWh of electricity. It cost €1.5 billion. Three more turbines are scheduled for the site, bringing the storage power to 880 MW. The project also includes two
run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...
facilities.
Transport
The
Tâmega line
The Tâmega line ''(Linha do Tâmega)'' was a railway line in northern Portugal. It closely followed the course of the Tâmega River. It closed in 2009.
History
The southern part of the line opened in 1909; it ran between Livração (the junct ...
, which closed in 2009, was a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
railway line which closely followed the river.
See also
*
List of rivers of Portugal
This is a list of the rivers of Portugal.
Note: List was taken from :pt:Anexo:Lista de rios de Portugal. Rio X was converted to X River.
List
A
* Abadia le Riviera
* Agadão River
* Águeda River (Douro)
* Águeda River (Vouga)
* Albufeir ...
*
List of rivers of Spain
This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Rivers in the mainland Iberian Peninsu ...
*
Rivers of Galicia The rivers of Galicia form part of a dense hydrographical network in the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia and has been described by Otero Pedrayo as “the land of a thousand rivers”. Most rivers are not deep enough to be navigable, althou ...
References
External links
Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Portugal
Rivers of Galicia (Spain)
International rivers of Europe
Tributaries of the Douro River
{{Portugal-river-stub