Lauca River

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Lauca River
Valle del rio Lauca, Region de Arica y Parinacota.JPG
Etymology Aymara
Location
Countries
Departments (BO)
Regions (CL)
Physical characteristics
SourceParinacota wetlands
  location Parinacota Province
  elevation4,350 m (14,270 ft)
Mouth Coipasa Lake
  location
Sabaya Province
Length225 km (140 mi)
Discharge 
  average0.79 m3/s (28 cu ft/s)
Lauca River
Map Rio-lauca.svg
Map

The Lauca River is a binational river. It originates in the Chilean Altiplano of the Arica and Parinacota Region, crosses the Andes and empties into Coipasa Lake in Bolivia.

The upper reach of the river lies within the boundaries of Lauca National Park in the Parinacota Province. The Lauca receives waters from a group of lakes known as Quta Qutani through the Desaguadero River. In this area, there is a type of marsh known as Parinacota wetlands, in which converge several streams, being the more important the river just mentioned, which has a variable flow rate ranging from 100 to 560 L/s, and an average of 260 L/s.

From its source in the Parinacota wetlands the river flows west. The spurs of the Cordillera Central (also known as Chapiquiña) form an obstacle impossible to pass through, forcing the river's course southward. In the vicinity of Wallatiri volcano, the Lauca turns again, now eastward crossing from Chile into Bolivia at the latitude of Macaya, at an elevation of 3,892 m asl and with a flow rate about 2,6 m³/s. In Chile the river drains an area of 2,350 km². [1]

In the Bolivian Altiplano, the Lauca collects the waters of the rivers Sajama and Coipasa, raising its flow rate up to 8 m³/s before turning south to empty into Coipasa Lake, close to the salt flat of the same name.

During the 1930s, the Chilean government begun to use the hydrical resources of Lauca river for irrigation in the Azapa Valley, generating a complaint from Bolivian government who argued that Chilean authorities were altering the course of an international river. Chile answered that the natural course of the river was not modified, but the works executed were related to the use of waters in the Parinacota wetlands, which not affect the total water flow of the Lauca in its course to Bolivia. The litigation between both countries, started in 1939, caused diplomatic tension until the 1960s. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Bolivia</span>

The geography of Bolivia includes the Eastern Andes Mountain Range which bisects Bolivia roughly from north to south. To the east of that mountain chain are lowland plains of the Amazon Basin, and to the west is the Altiplano which is a highland plateau where Lake Titicaca is located. Bolivia's geography has features similar to those of Peru which abuts Bolivia's northwest border; like Bolivia, Peru is bisected from north to south by the Eastern Andes Mountains, and these two countries share Lake Titicaca which is the highest navigable lake on Earth. Unlike Peru, however, Bolivia is one of the two landlocked countries in South America, the other being Paraguay, which is located along Bolivia's southeast border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altiplano</span> Large plateau in west-central South America

The Altiplano, Collao or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the latitude of the widest part of the north–south-trending Andes. The bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia, but its northern parts lie in Peru, and its southwestern fringes lie in Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Poopó</span> Saline lake in Bolivia

Lake Poopó was a large saline lake in a shallow depression in the Altiplano in Oruro Department, Bolivia, at an altitude of approximately 3,700 m (12,100 ft). Due to the lake's length and width, it made up the eastern half of Oruro, known as a mining region in southwest Bolivia. The permanent part of the lake body covered approximately 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) and it was the second-largest lake in the country. The lake received most of its water from the Desaguadero River, which flows from Lake Titicaca at the north end of the Altiplano. Since the lake lacked any major outlet and had a mean depth of less than 3 m (10 ft), the surface area differed greatly seasonally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parinacota (volcano)</span> Volcano on the border of Chile and Bolivia

Parinacota, Parina Quta or Parinaquta is a dormant stratovolcano on the border of Bolivia and Chile. Together with Pomerape it forms the Nevados de Payachata volcanic chain. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, its summit reaches an elevation of 6,380 metres (20,930 ft) above sea level. The symmetrical cone is capped by a summit crater with widths of 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) or 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Farther down on the southern slopes lie three parasitic centres known as the Ajata cones. These cones have generated lava flows. The volcano overlies a platform formed by lava domes and andesitic lava flows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arica y Parinacota Region</span> Region of Chile

The Arica y Parinacota Region is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivia's La Paz and Oruro departments to the east and Chile's Tarapacá Region to the south. Arica y Parinacota is the 5th smallest, the 3rd least populous and the 6th least densely populated of the regions of Chile. Arica is the region's capital and largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauca National Park</span> Wildlife park in northern Chile

Lauca National Park is in Chile's far north, in the Andean range. It encompasses an area of 1,379 km2 of altiplano and mountains, the latter consisting mainly of enormous volcanoes. Las Vicuñas National Reserve is its neighbour to the south. Both protected areas, along with Salar de Surire Natural Monument, form Lauca Biosphere Reserve. The park borders Sajama National Park in Bolivia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotacotani Lake</span> Lake in Parinacota Province, Chile

Laguna de Cotacotani or Quta Qutani is a lake located in the Andean Altiplano of the Parinacota Province, Arica-Parinacota Region, Chile. It lies 4 km northwest of Chungará Lake, which is one of the highest lakes in the world and is surrounded by several volcanoes, such as the Payachata volcanic group, Sajama volcano and Wallatiri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Andean dry puna</span> Ecoregion in South America

The Central Andean dry puna (NT1001) is an ecoregion in the montane grasslands and shrublands biome, located in the Andean Altiplano in South America. It is a part of the Puna grassland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laguna Hedionda (Nor Lípez)</span>

Laguna Hedionda is a saline lake in the Nor Lípez Province, Potosí Department in Bolivia. It is notable for various migratory species of pink and white flamingos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosapilla River</span> River in Chile

The Cosapilla River is a river of Chile and Bolivia and is part of the boundary. It is also called Caquena and, in Bolivia, Cosapa. From its source in the Parinacota Province, the river flows north, is part of the Chile-Bolivia boundary and then flows in the Bolivian Department of Oruro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canal Lauca</span>

The Canal Lauca is an artificial channel to divert the waters of the Lauca River westward through a canal and tunnel into the Azapa Valley for purposes of irrigation in the valley and hydroelectric-power generation. Its construction began 1948 and water diversion began 14 years later from a dam located about 16 miles southwest of Lago Cotacotani Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wila Pukarani</span> Volcano in Bolivia

Wila Pukarani is a volcano located in the Coipasa salt pan in the Bolivian Altiplano. It is approximately 4,920 m high, reaching a prominence of at least 1,200 m. It is situated in the Oruro Department, Sabaya Province, Coipasa Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunturiri (Bolivia and Chile)</span>

Kunturiri is a volcano in the Andes on the border of Bolivia and Chile which rises up to 5,762 metres (18,904 ft). On the Chilean side it is located in the Arica and Parinacota Region and on the Bolivian side in the Oruro Department, Sajama Province, Curahuara de Carangas Municipality, Sajama Canton as well as in the La Paz Department, Pacajes Province, Calacoto Municipality, Ulloma Canton.

Lauca is a 5,140 metres (16,860 ft) high andesitic stratovolcano in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes on the Altiplano in northern Chile. Administratively it is located in Putre, Arica y Parinacota Region. The volcano was active during the Late Miocene from 10.5 million years ago onwards. A major ignimbrite collapsed the volcano in the Late Pliocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tauca</span> Former lake, Pleisto- Holocene glacial lake, 72,600–7200 BP in Andes, South America

Lake Tauca is a former lake in the Altiplano of Bolivia. It is also known as Lake Pocoyu for its constituent lakes: Lake Poopó, Salar de Coipasa and Salar de Uyuni. The lake covered large parts of the southern Altiplano between the Eastern Cordillera and the Western Cordillera, covering an estimated 48,000 to 80,000 square kilometres of the basins of present-day Lake Poopó and the Salars of Uyuni, Coipasa and adjacent basins. Water levels varied, possibly reaching 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) in altitude. The lake was saline. The lake received water from Lake Titicaca, but whether this contributed most of Tauca's water or only a small amount is controversial; the quantity was sufficient to influence the local climate and depress the underlying terrain with its weight. Diatoms, plants and animals developed in the lake, sometimes forming reef knolls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Sabaya</span> A 5,430-metre (17,810 ft) high volcan in Bolivia

Tata Sabaya is a 5,430-metre (17,810 ft) high volcano in Bolivia. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of several volcanic belts in the Andes which are separated by gaps without volcanic activity. This section of the Andes was volcanically active since the Jurassic, with an episode of strong ignimbritic volcanism occurring during the Miocene. Tata Sabaya lies in a thinly populated region north of the Salar de Coipasa salt pan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isluga River</span> River

Isluga River is a river in Chile and Bolivia, and is also known as Sitani or Arabilla. It starts at the confluence of the rivers Chaguane and Huinchuta and flows for 54 kilometres (34 mi) before reaching the Laguna Mucalliri of the Salar de Coipasa. It receives water from the volcanoes Isluga, Cabaray and Quimsachata as well as the Sierra Uscana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chungará Lake</span> Lake situated in the Lauca National Park, Chile

Chungará is a lake situated in the extreme north of Chile at an elevation of 4,517 metres (14,820 ft), in the Altiplano of Arica y Parinacota Region in the Lauca National Park. It has a surface area of about 21.5–22.5 square kilometres (8.3–8.7 sq mi) and has a maximum depth of about 26–40 metres (85–131 ft). It receives inflow through the Río Chungara with some minor additional inflows, and loses most of its water to evaporation; seepage into the Laguna Quta Qutani plays a minor role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapiquiña Power Plant</span> Hydroelectric power station in Chile

Chapiquiña power plant is a hydroelectric power plant in northern Chile. It takes water from the Canal Lauca and produces electrical power through a Pelton turbine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guallatiri</span> Volcano in Parinacota Province, Chile

Guallatiri is a volcano in Chile with an elevation of 6,060 to 6,071 m. It is located southwest of the Nevados de Quimsachata volcanic group; some sources classify Guallatiri as a member. Guallatiri is a stratovolcano with numerous fumaroles around the summit. The summit may be a lava dome or volcanic plug, while the lower flanks of the volcano are covered by lava flows and lava domes. The volcano's eruptions have produced mostly dacite along with andesite and rhyolite. Past glaciation has left moraines on Guallatiri.

References

  1. (in Spanish) Cuenca del río Lauca Archived 2007-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  2. TERENCE R. LEE, The Management of Shared Water Resources in Latin America, page , retrieved on 15 June 2012

19°23′00″S68°10′00″W / 19.3833°S 68.1667°W / -19.3833; -68.1667