The Rio de la Plata River Basin: The Path Towards Basin Institutions

Abstract

The Río de la Plata drainage basin is one of the five greatest drainage basins in the world with special particularities to be recognized and admired. It is formed by the discharge of waters from five countries — Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay — extending over some 3,100,000 km2.1 The basin as a whole has a mean annual precipitation of 1,100 mm ranging from desert zones in the Upper Bermejo river basin to sub-tropical regions in the Upper Paraguay river. Such a diversity derives from the interconnection of a number of sub-basins. Each sub-basin — the Tieté, Paranapanema, Paraná, Iguazú, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bermejo, Pilcomayo, Iguazú, Salado del Norte, and Río de la Plata rivers — has its own rich characteristics and their confluence extends geographically until reaching the common terminus of the Río de la Plata.2 These sub-basins spread over extensive territories of some of the basin countries, and their features will be briefly described to provide the physical characteristics that will introduce the institutional and legal framework.3.