Itaya River

Itaya River
Río Itaya
Evening sun reflects in the water of the Itaya River. The water is alive with islands of trees and other green vegetation. A rowboat and a painted shack are mirrored in the water; around them lumber is scattered haphazardly on the water's surface. The opposite bank of the river is on the horizon, verdant and thick with trees.
A view of the Itaya River from the city of Iquitos
Location
CountryPeru
CityIquitos
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • coordinates
3°42′0″S 73°15′0″W / 3.70000°S 73.25000°W / -3.70000; -73.25000
Length213 km (132 mi)
Basin size2,668 km2 (1,030 sq mi) 2,530 km2 (980 sq mi)[1]
Discharge 
 • locationIquitos (near mouth)
 • average153.27 m3/s (5,413 cu ft/s) 108 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s)[2]
Basin features
River systemAmazon Basin

The Itaya River is a tributary of the Amazon River via the Nanay River[citation needed] in northern Peru. The Itaya flows alongside the city of Iquitos and the district of Belén.

In Iquitos, a riverwalk and breakwater called Malecón Tarapacá overlooks the Itaya.[3] To the north of Malecón Tarapacá is Malecón Maldonado.[3]

The Itaya River is the namesake of the fan palm genus Itaya, which was first discovered on the river's bank.[4]

The 2012 floods of the Amazon, Itaya, and Nanay Rivers, amid the heaviest rains the region had endured in 40 years, left approximately 80,000 people homeless.[5] In April 2015, 11 hours of steady rain swelled the Itaya again, causing the Iquitos–Nauta highway to collapse at four points: kilometres 22, 22.2, 23, and 26.[6]

Children play football on a dirt pitch near tin-roofed houses on the bank of the Itaya River.
The Itaya River from vantages around Iquitos
  1. ^ "Oficina Nacional de Evaluación de Recursos Naturales (ONERN)". 1980.
  2. ^ "Oficina Nacional de Evaluación de Recursos Naturales (ONERN)". 1980.
  3. ^ a b "Malecón Tarapacá". MINCETUR. San Isidro: Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism (Peru). Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  4. ^ Piptocarpha (Compositae: Vernonieae). Flora Neotropica. New York: New York Botanical Garden Press. 2007. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-89327-482-5. OCLC 77504368.
  5. ^ "Inundaciones afectan a unos 80 mil pobladores" [Flooding affects some 80,000 poor]. Perú.21 (in Spanish). 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  6. ^ "Loreto: Colapsó la carretera Iquitos-Nauta por crecida del río Itaya" [Loreto: Iquitos-Nauta highway collapsed by swelling of the Itaya River]. Perú.21 (in Spanish). 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-07.