Laja River ( es, Río De La Laja) is a river in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, along which can be found the
Laja Falls. It is located in the
Bío Bío Region. The source of the river is
Laguna del Laja in the
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 ...
, then flows westward through the
Chilean Central Valley
The Central Valley ( es, Valle Central), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in ...
and terminates into the
Bío Bío River, being an important tributary of it.
Whitewater
The Laja River is known among whitewater kayakers in Chile as Class 5 very steep and thrilling
whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport where a river is navigated in a decked kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles. River running; where the paddler follows a river and paddles rapids as they travel. Creeking usually involving s ...
run. The Laja river actually forms from a drainage in the Lake Laja where the water exits at the bottom of the lake through the side of a mountain. Because the river is formed from exiting the bottom of the lake the river level is always constant.
[http://riversofchile.com/]
Hydropower
Three hydropower plants are located at and below the outlet of Lake Laja, including the 400 MW
El Toro Hydroelectric Plant built in 1973 and the 300 MW
Antuco Hydroelectric Plant built in 1981.
Irrigation
Below the lake and the hydropower plants and before the Laja Falls lie 70,000 hectares of irrigated land.
History
In 1984, private companies planned to divert the Laja River to another river further north to power new hydroelectric plants there. Opponents argued that the
interbasin transfer would dry up the
Laja Falls and would increase pollution in the lower
Biobío River, because the Laja River diluted the pollution from the upper BíoBío River and pollutant would be more concentrated in the absence of this dilution. Irrigators also feared their water rights would be affected. Although the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit against the transfer, it was eventually considered to be too controversial politically and was abandoned.
References
{{Coord, 37.2699, S, 72.7243, W, source:wikidata, display=title
Rivers of Chile
Rivers of Biobío Region