The hydrography of Argentina It reflects the variations in climate and relief that its territory shows, from the warm subtropical north to the cold and dry south. In this sense, the highest concentration of water, as well as the largest rivers and aquifers, are found in the northeast..
Its main basin is that of the La Plata River, followed by the Patagonian System, and its largest river is the Paraná. Likewise, it shares with Brazil the Iguazú Falls, with its impressive Devil's Throat.
In addition, the north of the Argentine territory is part of one of the largest aquifers in the world, the Guaraní aquifer. While it has extensive wetlands, such as the high Andean and Puno lagoons, and Bañados del Río Dulce and Laguna de Mar Chiquita.
For Argentina, knowledge and management of its hydrography is vital, given the unequal distribution of water in its territory.
In Argentina there are three fundamental watersheds, the main one being the Atlantic watershed, the marginal Pacific watershed (3% of the country's flows) and the interior watershed..
The latter refers to several endorheic basins, distributed in the central basin, the Pampa basin and in the Andean basin. On the slope of the Atlantic Ocean are the basins of the Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay river systems..
As well as the basins of the La Plata river system, the Colorado river, and the Patagonian river system. While the Pacific Ocean slope covers 9 small basins in the south of the country.
While the interior or endorheic slope includes the independent basin system, the Mar Chiquita system, the Serrano system and the Pampeano system. On the other hand, in Argentina there are also basins called arreicas, because they lack defined water courses. These are found in the semi-arid areas of the provinces of Chaco, La Pampa and in the Patagonian plateaus..
Despite this diversity of basins, around 75% of the drained water in Argentina corresponds to the basins of 3 rivers. These are Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay, which together drain an area of 3,092,000 kmtwo.
In this country there are 13 rivers with lengths greater than 400 km, the longest course in Argentine territory being the Salado River with 2,355 km. The basin of this river in the north-central area, also called Juramento or Pasaje, drains 124,199 kmtwo, but it is low flow (170 m3/ s).
While the Paraná River, the main river, runs in Argentina 1,630 km of its 4,888 total km, with a flow of 17,300 m3/ s. While the Uruguay River runs 1,170 km in Argentina, forming the border with Brazil and Uruguay.
For its part, the Paraguay River in its final section forms the border between Argentina and Paraguay. The most important river in Patagonia is the Negro River, which flows into the Argentine Sea, traveling 635 km with a flow of 1,014 m3/ s. In addition, the so-called Río de La Plata is not really a river, but the estuary formed by the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers..
The longest rivers in Argentina are:
The highest jump in Argentina corresponds to the Salto Unión with 80 m, which gives rise to the Garganta del Diablo in the Iguazú Falls. This jump is shared between Argentina and Brazil, since it is exactly on the border line.
On the other hand, the Moconá Falls, located in the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve, in the province of Misiones, reach 25 meters in height. However, the peculiarity of these falls is that they extend for 2 km. This is because it is the river overflowing into a deep canyon parallel to it..
In Argentina there are three large aquifers, two of which are transboundary. The largest of all is the Guaraní aquifer, the third in volume worldwide, shared with Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The Argentine portion of this aquifer covers 225,424 km² of the 1,190,000 km² total it covers. It is followed in importance by the Toba Aquifer System (SAT), which is part of the Yrenda-Toba-Tarijeño aquifer system shared with Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay..
This aquifer in Argentina occupies 210,000 kmtwo, corresponding to a quarter of the Chaco-Pampeana Geological Province. Finally, the Puelche aquifer extends between the provinces of Santa Fe, Córdoba and Buenos Aires, with 70,000 kmtwo. However, its waters have salinity problems and natural contamination with arsenic.
20% of the Argentine territory is covered by wetlands, concentrated mainly towards the northeast, in the region known as Mesopotamia. As well as in the plains of the Chaco and the Pampa.
Of all its extension of wetlands, 23 areas have been cataloged in the Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands worldwide. The largest of the wetlands is that of the high Andean and Puno lagoons of Catamarca with 1.2281, 75 kmtwo.
It is followed in extension by the Bañados del Río Dulce and Laguna de Mar Chiquita multiple use reserve, located in the province of Córdoba with 9,960 kmtwo.
In addition, there are other extensive wetlands such as the Guanacache, Desaguadero and Bebedero lagoons (9,623.7 kmtwo) northeast of the province of Mendoza. Like that of Humedales Chaco (5,080 Kmtwo) east of the province of Chaco.
In Argentina there are a series of lakes and lagoons distributed between the high Andean areas and in the plains. The largest of the lakes in this country is Lago Argentino with 1,415 km², with an average depth of 150 meters and a maximum of 500 meters, being the southernmost of the continental lakes.
It is followed by Lake Viedma, the longest of the Argentine lakes, covering 1,088 km² in Patagonia. Other lakes are Buenos Aires, Colhué Huapi, Nahuel Huapi, Fagnano, and Lake San Martín, which, being shared with Chile, is called Lake O'Higgins there..
While among the lagoons the most extensive is the Mar Chiquita with 6,000 kmtwo, the largest body of water in the country. Another relevant lagoon is the Llancanelo lagoon, located in the south of the province of Mendoza and which has an area of 450 kmtwo.
In this country there are a large number of reservoirs of various sizes and uses, both for hydroelectric plants, as well as for irrigation and drinking water. One of the largest is the Yacyretá-Apipé reservoir, corresponding to the hydroelectric power station of the same name, which covers 1,000 kmtwo, located on the Paraná river and managed between Argentina and Paraguay.
Then, there are 3 reservoirs that exceed 300 kmtwo, which are the Piedra de Águila reservoir (Limay river), Río Hondo (Dulce river) and Casa de Piedra (Colorado river). As well as a series of smaller reservoirs with surfaces between 5 and 145 kmtwo, among them Laguna Yema, Cabra Corral and others.
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