The Tartagal River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in the north of the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
,
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-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. It crosses the city of
Tartagal, in the
San Martín Department, flowing west–east along with many smaller streams, and finally vanishing into a
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
. Its course is rather short and, due to the dry climate of the region, it only carries a large flow during high-precipitation times (mainly in the summer).
In April 2006 (early autumn), after weeks of increased rainfall, the Tartagal overflowed its banks, causing landslides and destroying or severely damaging bridges and roads (including
National Route 34) along its course, which caused the city of Tartagal to be practically isolated from the rest of the province for days.
On February 9, 2009, heavy rains caused the river to break its banks and flood much of the city, resulting in 11 casualties.
BBC news
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References
* ''Portal Informativo de Salta''
Rivers of Argentina
Rivers of Salta Province
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