The Quequen Salado river overflows in its upper basin.

MARINI, M.F.; SCHWALLER, D.; PICCOLO, M.C.

Bahía Blanca

Congreso; 4th LOICZ Open Science Meeting; 1999

LOICZ

The Quequen Salado River is very important in the central zone of the southeast of the Buenos Aires Province because it flows over a large hinterland. Its basin is located in a region where the agricultural and farming activities, in general, are essential. The river is characterized in some sectors of its watercourse by steep riverbanks. The main objective of this study is to investigate the consequences of the river floodings over some regions of its basin. Maps in different scales from the Military Geographic Institute were used in the study and several surveys performed in the area provided material for this investigation. The mean annual rainfall in the basin is 700 mm. However, in the last few decades, there have been events of intense precipitation. In some extraordinary events more than 150 mm of precipitation have fallen during two or three days. These circumstances cause overflows in the basin affecting some towns that are not even in the area of the river basin. This is the case of Copetonas, located to the east of the basin. The town is limited by El Gaucho Creek, which has a basin area of 887 km2. During the 20th century, the town was threatened by flooding from the creek due to the entrance of the water. The El Gaucho overflows are caused by the entrance of Quequen Salado River water into the creek during these intense precipitation events. After analyzing the problem, several possible solutions of the Copetonas floodings are presented and discussed. One of them is the construction of a channel that will divert the waters towards a steep riverbank sector of the Quequen Salado River.2. During the 20th century, the town was threatened by flooding from the creek due to the entrance of the water. The El Gaucho overflows are caused by the entrance of Quequen Salado River water into the creek during these intense precipitation events. After analyzing the problem, several possible solutions of the Copetonas floodings are presented and discussed. One of them is the construction of a channel that will divert the waters towards a steep riverbank sector of the Quequen Salado River.