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Waterways

There are three main basins which drain in the direction of the Rio de la Plata . These are the basins of the Luján, Reconquista and Matanza-Riachuelo rivers. To these, we must add systems with less extension, such as the Escobar, Garín and Claro streams in the North (all of them tributaries of the Luján river in its right bank), the Vega, White and Medrano streams in the Northeast, the Maldonado and Cildáñez streams in the South, and the streams Sarandí, San Franciso-Santo Domingo, Jiménez, Conchitas-Plátanos, Baldovinos, Pereyra, Carnaval, Rodríguez, Del Gato, Maldonado and El Pescado in the Southeast.

Luján basin:

Area: 2,940 km2
Average Flow/Maximum Flow: 5.37 m3/s / 400 m3/s
Length : 130 km
Headwaters: Community of Suipacha
Mouth : Río de la Plata, Communities of San Fernando and Tigre
Average slope of the basin : 0.44 m/km

Reconquista basin :

Area: 1,670 km2
Average Flow/Maximum Flow: 3.00 m3/s / 286.5 m3/s
Length: 87 km
Headwaters : Community of General Rodríguez
Mouth: Luján river

Matanza-Riachuelo basin :

Area: 2,034 km2
Average Flow/Maximum Flow: m3/s / m3/s
Length: 80 km
Headwaters : Community of
Mouth: Río de la Plata, Communities of Avellaneda and Capital Federal

The difficulty in drainage in the lower areas has derived in the piping of numerous streams near the main course of the Riachuelo; one of these (Vega stream) is entirely within the Capital Federal, while the others have their headwaters in Gran Buenos Aires (Medrano, Maldonado and Cildáñez). In the Southeast, the rivers Sarandí and Santo Domingo have been partially piped before their discharge to the Río de la Plata. With an extension of 14,000 km2, the Delta de Paraná can be split into regions with different characteristics. The most urbanised section is located between the Luján and the Paraná de las Palmas rivers. Besides the Luján river, the main waterways are the Sarmiento and the Carapachay rivers. There are about 30 km of islands, rivers, streams and artificial canals between the Paraná de las Palmas and the Paraná Guazú rivers, which extend upstream for 100 km.

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