Extreme Flood Events in the Uruguay River-South America / Eventos Extremos de Crecidas en el Río Uruguay 23

I. CAMILLONI

VAMOS! Newsletter of the Variability of the American Monsoon Systems Project

CLIVAR/WCRP

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2005 vol. 2 p. 23 - 25

1813-6478

The Uruguay basin is a densly populated region in Southeastern South America that hosts important agricultural activities and hydroelectric plants. The Uruguay River is the second tributary in importance of La Plata River with a basin of 365,000 km2 that includes parts of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina and a mean flow of about 4,500 m3/s. It begins near the Atlantic Ocean at a height of approximately 1,800 m above sea level and ends at La Plata River. Upstream from Paso de los Libres, the river is known as Upper Uruguay and between this location and the Salto Grande hydropower plant, located 240 km downstream Paso de los Libres, as Middle Uruguay. From Salto Grande to its outlet, the river is known as Lower Uruguay. During the last 50 years, large areas along the margins of the middle and lower sections of river were subject to extreme flood events. This article examines the extreme discharge events in the Uruguay River for the period 1950-2000 and summarizes their atmospheric forcing.