The Carcarañá River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It is born at the confluence of the Río Tercero and the Saladillo River (the lower course of the Río Cuarto

Cuarto River

The Cuarto River is a river of Argentina which crosses the southern part of the Province of Córdoba, and merges with the Tercero River to form the Carcarañá River...

) in the south-east of the province of Córdoba

Córdoba Province (Argentina)

Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...

 (near Cruz Alta, at 33°01′S 61°48′W) and flows eastward into the province of Santa Fe

Santa Fe Province

The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...

, which it crosses.

In Santa Fe the river first turns south, then east and finally north-east, passing by the city of Carcarañá

Carcarañá

Carcarañá is a city in the , located in the San Lorenzo Department, on the southern banks of the Carcarañá River, west of Rosario on National Route 9, and south of the provincial capital...

. It receives the waters of the Cañada de Gómez (near the city of the same name

Cañada de Gómez

Cañada de Gómez is a city in the . It is the head town of the Iriondo Department and is located about west of Rosario and from the provincial capital, on National Route 9. It has a population of about 30,000 inhabitants ....

, at 32°51′S 61°9′W), develops cascades

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

 and becomes encased in ravine

Ravine

A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...

s up to 20 m high. It then turns north and empties into the Coronda River (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, Río Coronda or Riacho Coronda), south of Gaboto. The Coronda empties into the Paraná River

Paraná River

The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...

 about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) below the mouth of the Carcarañá, at 32°30′5"S 60°47′45"W.

The Carcarañá basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 comprises 2% of the territory of Santa Fe and 4% of its population lives within it. It has a total length of 240 km and it is navigable only by medium ships. It passes by or near the cities and towns of Inriville, Los Surgentes and Cruz Alta in Córdoba, and Arteaga, San José de la Esquina, Los Nogales, Arequito, Los Molinos, Casilda

Casilda

Casilda is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is the head town of the Caseros Department, and lies about west of Rosario and 202 km south-southwest of the provincial capital Santa Fe, on National Route 33...

, Carcarañá, Andino and Gaboto in Santa Fe, traversing one of the richest agricultural districts in the world.

The Carcarañá's potential for the generation of hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 was taken advantage of since the 19th century and until the 1930s.

History

The mouth of the Carcarañá River was the location of the first European settlement in the Río de la Plata

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

 region and present-day Argentina. In 1527 Sebastian Cabot

Sebastian Cabot (explorer)

Sebastian Cabot was an explorer, born in the Venetian Republic.-Origins:...

, a Venetian

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 at the service of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, established the Sancti Spiritus Fort there. Years later this was also the meeting point of Juan de Garay

Juan de Garay

Juan de Garay was a Spanish conquistador.Garay was born in Orduña, Spain. He served under the Spanish crown, in the Viceroyalty of Peru...

, founder of the city of Santa Fe, and the envoy of Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera

Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera

Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera was a Spanish Conquistador, early colonial governor over much of what today is northwestern Argentina, and founder of the city of Córdoba.-Life and times:Cabrera was born in Seville, Spain, in 1528...

, founder of Córdoba

Córdoba, Argentina

Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

.

Sources

• Santa Fe - Hidrografía
• Timbúes Turístico - Website of Timbúes, Santa Fe
  Timbúes, Santa Fe
  Timbúes is a town in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It has 3,325 inhabitants as per the . It lies in the south of the province, at the confluence of the Paraná River and the Carcarañá River, 30 km north of Rosario and 144 km south of the provincial capital Santa Fe, on National Route...
  
  , with historical information.
• Satellite view of the city of Carcarañá
• Articles on Carcarañá and Río Carcarañá in the Spanish Wikipedia.