The Mendoza River is a river in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Mendoza,

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

.Argentina Turística - Mendoza - Circuitos Turísticos
It is formed 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 ...

range between the

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summi ...

and the Tupungato, by the confluence of the

Vacas ''Vacas'' (English: ''Cows'') is a 1991 Spanish film, written and directed by Julio Médem. The film stars Carmelo Gómez, Emma Suárez, Ana Torrent, and Karra Elejalde. An eerie family saga set in rural Basque Country, the cryptic film follo ...

, the Cuevas and the Tupungato rivers, the last being its major tributary.

Course

The upper valley of the Mendoza begins at around

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

, and it is U-shaped, of

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

origin. The river reaches Uspallata, then crosses the

Precordillera Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, foothills. The term is derived from ''cordillera'' (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes. Some place ...

through the Potrerillos Valley, flows along the Cacheuta Canyon and reaches the plain. It forms an arc and turns northeast, finally emptying into the Bañados de Guanacache, which join the San Juan River, part of the system of the Desaguadero River. The river has a mean flow of , and supplies water for the main oasis in the otherwise arid province. Its course through Potrerillos, at about above sea level, features

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...

s, which are employed for

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

(level III–IV on the International Scale of River Difficulty during the summer). In Potrerillos the river is also dammed, forming a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

, which feeds a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

The

Cacheuta Spa The Cacheuta Spa ( es, Termas de Cacheuta, ) is a bathing establishment in Argentina exploiting the natural hot springs at Cacheuta on the Mendoza River in the foothills of the Andes.Potrerillos Dam are tourist destinations along the river. Mendoza River irrigates the Maipú and Lujan

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...

s, located in Mendoza

piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, at 30° south latitude. This region hosts 17 percent of the Mendoza vineyards, and about 360 wineries.Vineyards in the high zone of Mendoza River
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Location

References

Rivers of Argentina M {{Argentina-river-stub