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Napo river
Napo River.jpg
The Napo River to the east of Coca
Naporivermap.png
Map of the Amazon Basin with the Napo River highlighted
Countries
Physical characteristics
Main source Cotopaxi in the Andes
Ecuador
0°40′S 78°25′W / 0.667°S 78.417°W / -0.667; -78.417
River mouth Amazon River
70 km (43 mi) downstream from Iquitos, Loreto Region, Peru
3°27′28″S 72°43′3″W / 3.45778°S 72.71750°W / -3.45778; -72.71750
Length 1,130 km (700 mi)
Discharge
(location 2)
  • Location:
    Mazán (Bella Vista), Loreto Region, Peru - 79,76 km upstream of mouth (basin size 100,518 km2 (38,810 sq mi)
  • Minimum rate:
    3,250 m3/s (115,000 cu ft/s)
  • Average rate:
    (Period: 1991-2009)6,660 m3/s (235,000 cu ft/s)

7,032.018 m3/s (248,333.4 cu ft/s)

  • Maximum rate:
    11,200 m3/s (400,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
(location 3)
  • Location:
    Santa Clotilde, Maynas, Loreto Region, Peru - 256.2 km upstream of mouth (basin size 85,770 km2 (33,120 sq mi)
  • Average rate:
    (Period: 2002-2011)5,895 m3/s (208,200 cu ft/s)

(Period: 2001-2005)5,700 m3/s (200,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
(location 4)
  • Location:
    Nueva Rocafuerte, Ecuador - 574.1 km upstream of mouth (basin size 26,879.7 km2 (10,378.3 sq mi)

(Period: 2001-2005)2,227 m3/s (78,600 cu ft/s)

  • Average rate:
    (Period: 2001-2009)2,031 m3/s (71,700 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Basin size 103,307.79 km2 (39,887.36 sq mi)
Tributaries

The Napo River (Spanish: Río Napo) is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.

The total length is 1,075 km (668 mi). The river drains an area of 103,307.79 km2 (39,887.36 sq mi). The mean annual discharge is 6,660 m3/s (235,000 cu ft/s) (Mazán).

NapoVillagePeru02-02
Village along west bank of Napo River in Peru, a few miles above confluence with Amazon. The land visible beyond the waterway is an island in the river.

Geography

Before it reaches the plains it receives a great number of small streams from impenetrable, saturated and much broken mountainous districts, where the dense and varied vegetation seems to fight for every piece of ground. From the north it is joined by the Coca River, having its sources in the gorges of Cayambe volcano on the equator, and also a powerful river, the Aguarico having its headwaters between Cayambe and the Colombia frontier. From the west, it receives a secondary tributary, the Curaray, from the Andean slopes, between Cotopaxi and the Tungurahua volcano. From its Coca branch to the mouth of the Curaray the Napo is full of snags and shelving sandbanks and throws out numerous canoes among jungle-tangled islands, which in the wet season are flooded, giving the river an immense width. From the Coca to the Amazon it runs through a forested plain where not a hill is visible from the river - its uniformly level banks being only interrupted by swamps and lagoons. From the Amazon the Napo is navigable for river craft up to its Curaray branch, a distance of about 216 mi (348 km), and perhaps a bit further; thence, by painful canoe navigation, its upper waters may be ascended as far as Santa Rosa, the usual point of embarkation for any venturesome traveller who descends from the Quito tableland. The Coca river may be penetrated as far up as its middle course, where it is jammed between two mountain walls, in a deep canyon, along which it dashes over high falls and numerous reefs. This is the stream made famous by the expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro.

Discharge

Napo River at Bellavista (km ~79,8) average (Q), dominante (Qd) discharge (m3/s) and sediment load (S – ton/year). Period from 1991/09–2009/08:

Water year Q S Qd Water year Q S Qd
1991/1992 5,667 28.608 6,009 2001/2002 5,979 32.431 6,335
1992/1993 7,104 47.718 7,447 2002/2003 5,669 32.154 6,312
1993/1994 8,013 67.159 8,583 2003/2004 6,148 41.916 7,054
1994/1995 6,055 34.801 6,525 2004/2005 6,456 37.953 6,767
1995/1996 5,956 34.017 6,463 2005/2006 6,143 34.77 6,523
1996/1997 6,262 38.258 6,790 2006/2007 6,535 40.344 6,942
1997/1998 9,839 105.956 10,354 2007/2008 6,615 40.832 6,977
1998/1999 6,839 51.48 7,686 2008/2009 7,428 52.504 7,749
1999/2000 6,725 49.735 7,576
2000/2001 6,452 38.527 6,810 Average 6,660 44.953 7,161

Napo River at Bellavista (km ~79,8) average, minimum and maximum discharge (m3/s). Period from 2009/09 to 2022/08:

Water year Mean Min Max Water year Mean Min Max
2009/2010 7,177 2016/2017 7,273.6 3,200 11,150
2010/2011 5,768.2 1,649 10,860 2017/2018 7,284 1,550 13,500
2011/2012 7,447.4 2,894 12,230 2018/2019 8,234 2,850 12,200
2012/2013 7,452.7 3,102 11,230 2019/2020 8,100 3,100 12,700
2013/2014 8,652 3,230 13,700 2020/2021 8,410 3,620 14,000
2014/2015 9,336 4,810 13,450 2021/2022 6,855 2,078 13,500
2015/2016 5,761 498.6 10,200

Napo River at Bellavista (km ~79,8) average, maximum, minimum and multiannual average (normal) discharge (m3/s) and anomaly (%):

Mean Max Min Normal (%)
2010/09 – 2011/08
SEP 2,620.5 3,089 1,969 5,121.2 –49
OCT 2,413.5 3,061 1,649 4,898.6 –51
NOV 3,818.7 4,778 2,696 5,595.1 –32
DEC 4,774.1 6,240 4,148 5,660.6 –16
JAN 3,604.2 5,001 2,174 4,580.7 –21
FEB 2,480.7 3,478 1,920 4,386.9 –43
MAR 4,753.4 7,127 3,790 5,824.1 –18
APR 9,206.8 10,240 7,865 7,502.4 23
MAY 9,561.5 10,040 8,348 8,941.3 7
JUN 10,193.8 10,860 8,821 9,422.9 8
JUL 9,846.3 10,590 7,904 8,844.7 11
AUG 5,944.6 8,658 3,758 6,610.8 –10
Mean 5,768.2 6,930 4,587 6,449.1 –12
2011/09 – 2012/08
SEP 4,551.3 5,441 3,757 5,121.2 11
OCT 5,344.9 6,995 2,894 4,898.6 9
NOV 4,427 6,878 3,023 5,595.1 –21
DEC 6,536.8 9,160 5,205 5,660.6 15
JAN 7,998.7 9,501 4,868 4,580.7 75
FEB 6,536.8 8,302 5,155 4,386.9 49
MAR 9,557.2 12,150 5,417 5,824.1 64
APR 11,843.7 12,230 10,870 7,502.4 58
MAY 10,322.7 10,790 9,702 8,941.3 15
JUN 8,878.8 9,961 7,011 9,422.9 –6
JUL 8,189.3 9,228 7,197 8,844.7 –7
AUG 5,182 7,605 3,975 6,612.4 –22
Mean 7,447.4 9,020 5,756 6,449.2 15.5
2012/09 – 2013/08
SEP 5,037 7,822 3,249 5,096 –1
OCT 5,113 6,457 4,632 4,918 4
NOV 4,130 5,660 3,102 5,567 –26
DEC 4,755 6,838 3,568 5,698 –17
JAN 7,589 9,183 3,854 4,723 61
FEB 5,851 9,071 4,170 4,465 31
MAR 10,060 10,740 9,127 5,973 68
APR 9,405 10610 8,675 7,683 22
MAY 8,322 10,570 6,932 8,999 –8
JUN 10,495 11,230 9,743 9,400 12
JUL 9,675 10,410 8,402 8,817 10
AUG 9,001 9,776 8,386 6,551 37
Mean 7,452.7 9,030 6,153 6,490.8 15
Napo River at Bellavista (km ~79,8) mean annual and multiannual average discharge
Period of data Multiannual average discharge References
1930–2006 6,464 m3/s (228,300 cu ft/s) Evaluación hidrológica de las cuencas amazonicas peruanas (HiBam/Senamhi/IRD, octubre 2011)
1989–2010 6,360 m3/s (225,000 cu ft/s); Q-dominante 6,865 m3/s (242,400 cu ft/s) Hydrodinamic and sediment transport modelling in a bend of Napo amazonian river: Morphodynamics and infrastructure implications (IAHR, 2015)
1991–2009 6,660 m3/s (235,000 cu ft/s) Estudio Binacional de Navegabilidad del Río Napo (Ecuador-Perú)
1997–2015 6,734.2 m3/s (237,820 cu ft/s) Assessing the performance of global hydrological models for capturing peak river flows in the Amazon basin (2019)
2000–2011 6,461 m3/s (228,200 cu ft/s) Línea Base Ambiental (Lahmeyer Agua Energia S.A.)
2001–2012 6,758 m3/s (238,700 cu ft/s) Preliminary Analysis of Potential for River Hydrokinetic Energy Technologies in the Amazon Basin
2001–2009 6,369 m3/s (224,900 cu ft/s) Estudio Binacional de Navegabilidad del Río Napo (Ecuador-Perú)
2003–2009 6,855 m3/s (242,100 cu ft/s); Q-min 1,875 m3/s (66,200 cu ft/s); Q-max 13,020 m3/s (460,000 cu ft/s) Modelado hidrologico distribuido de la Cuenca Amazonica Peruana utilizando preciptación obtenida por satelite, 2013
2004–2010 6,609 m3/s (233,400 cu ft/s) Suspended sediment dynamics in the Amazon River of Peru
2001–2005 6,976 m3/s (246,400 cu ft/s) Sediment budget of the Napo River, Amazon basin, Ecuador and Peru
2004–2006 6,267 m3/s (221,300 cu ft/s) Sediment budget of the Napo River, Amazon basin, Ecuador and Peru
2016–2017 9,338 m3/s (329,800 cu ft/s); Q-min 4,654 m3/s (164,400 cu ft/s); Q-max 13,200 m3/s (470,000 cu ft/s) Hydrological modeling of the Peruvian-Ecuadorian Amazon Basin using GPM-IMERG satellite-based precipitation dataset (2017)
Confluence of Amazon River: 8,936 m3/s (315,600 cu ft/s) Inventario y evaluación nacional de aguas superficiales (ONERN, 1980)
Bellavista: 7,032.018 m3/s (248,333.4 cu ft/s); Confluence of Amazon River: 7,147.761 m3/s (252,420.8 cu ft/s) Rivers Network (2020)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Río Napo para niños

  • Lake Pilchicocha
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