The Guanajuato's River () is a tributary of the

Lerma River The Lerma River () is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, ...

in the central near region of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

called the Bajio (Lowlands). The river begins in the

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

-rich Guanajuato mountains near the state capital of

Guanajuato City Guanajuato (, Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a municipalities of Mexico, municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the Guanajuato, State of Guanajuato. It is part of the macroregion of the Bajío. It is located in a narrow valley, which makes i ...

. The river is fed by the Guanajuato river basinca (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''cuenca'') (a sub-basin to the much larger Lerma–Chapala Basin) and has an area of 3,320 km², which makes up approximately 10.32% of the total area of the state. There are approximately 900,000 people living in the Guanajuato River basin area, in the municipalities of

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

, Romita, San Francisco del Rincon, Manuel Doblado and Pueblo Nuevo.

History/Culture

The river used to run underneath the capital city of

. It used to

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

the downtown area with alarming frequency until a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

( Presa de la Purisima) was built in the 1960s to contain it. The famous Underground Street, officially known as Calle Miguel Hidalgo, in

now follows the original course of the river where it ran in tunnels underneath the city. There is another dam above the city called the ''Presa de la Olla'' (in English: Pot Dam). The dam, which was inaugurated in 1749, was built to create a reservoir to provide the city with a constant supply of water. Every year on the first Monday in July, the dam's floodgates are opened as part of a yearly festival (in

: ''Apertura de la Presa''). Originally the dam was opened to clean the river which runs through the city. It is now a standing Guanajuato tradition.

References

Rivers of Guanajuato Lerma River {{Mexico-river-stub