Yaqui
Yaqui is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 28.91°, -109.62°
About Yaqui
The Yaqui River (Río Yaqui in Spanish) (Hiak Vatwe in the Yaqui or Yoreme language) is a river in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It was formerly known as the Rio del Norte. Being the largest river system in the state of Sonora, the Yaqui river is used for irrigation, especially in the Valle del Yaqui.
The Rio Yaqui originates in the Sierra Madre Occidental at the junction of the Rio Bavispe and the Rio Aros at Lat. 29.529887 Long. −109.228377. It is approximately 320 km (200 mi) in length, and flows south and southwest into the Gulf of California near the city of Obregon.
Its course is interrupted by several reservoirs like Plutarco Elías Calles (El Novillo), Lázaro Cárdenas (Angostura), or Álvaro Obregón (El Oviáchic, Lake Ouiachic), which provides the water resource for the intensively irrigated region of Ciudad Obregón.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Yaqui River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yaqui in Depth
Human history
As early as the 6th century AD, native inhabitants known as the Yoeme or Yaqui were living in family groups along the Rio Yaqui. The Yaqui used simple irrigation techniques to cultivate corn, beans, and squash while also hunting local game and gathering wild foods from the area. Yaquis traded native foods, furs, shells, salt, and other goods with many indigenous groups of central North America. The Yaquis lived more or less independently until the late 19th century, when many of them were driven from their lands surrounding the Rio Yaqui by the Mexican Army and forced to flee to more remote areas. Many Yaquis left the Rio Yaqui area to fight in the Vakatetteve Mountains, while others relocated to Yaqui communities in Arizona.
Ecology
The Rio Yaqui was once home to the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and represented one of the northernmost natural locations for the species. Decades of environmental degradation in the region led to the extirpation of the species from the region. This was nearly the southern extent for the Mexican grizzly bear.
The Mexican native trout or Yaqui trout and 34 other species of fish remains.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Yaqui River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yaqui: Key Facts
| Length | 680 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 100 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 76,000 km² |
| Mouth | Gulf of California |
| Tributaries | Bacanora River |
Facts from Wikidata Q1889886 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Yaqui: Quick Answers
- Where is Yaqui?
- Yaqui is located in Mexico, at 28.9079° N, 109.6226° W.
- Are there dams on the Yaqui?
- No dam on the Yaqui is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.