Rio Chubut, a awesome river

Chubut River is in the south of Argentina, in the center of Patagonia. It gives its name to the province as it is the province´s main course of water.

It starts in the neighbour province of Rio Negro, near Cerro las Carreras, and after flowing into the province of Chubut, it arrives in Bahia Engaño in the Altantic Ocean, where Rawson city, the capital of the province is. Rio Chico is the main tributary of Chubut River.

It is a capital river in the steppes that flows through the entire territory of the province. The landscape it desertic with some low vegetation. Its banks protect fish and provide them with food. It has an average flow of four cubic meters in winter, snow and rains increase the flow up to thirty cubic meters.

Chubut River has a extension the of 867 km. It’s the largest river in the province. In El Maitén, a desert town, close to it, the main attraction is fly-casting and spinning.

The fish found are:

-Rainbow trouts;

-Brown trouts;

-Perch.

In the last section of this river there is the dam Florentino Ameghino, a hydroelectric power station, 140 km to the west of Trelew city.

The size of the dam is: wall, 25 km long. Tunnel, 300 m.

This damn holds the waters of Chubut River that come from the Andes icecaps. The dam has two engines of the 30 mw each. It also protects the habitants of the lower valleys from frequents floods.

At the river bank is in the town Villa Dique Florentino Ameghino of 200 inhabitants.

Juan Schwartzman