Rio Yaqui

The Río Yaqui river basin (RYRB) is the largest in northwest Mexico, both in terms of area and volume of flow. Water resources in the region are under increasing stress due to intensive use for agriculture and urban growth, compounded by climate change and variability. More complete knowledge of the basin and its socio-ecological characteristics is necessary. This factsheet provides an overview of the RYRB and constitutes a point of departure for further research.

The Rio Yaqui drainage basin of northwestern Mexico comprises about 73,000 km of the most inaccessible and rugged terrain in western North America (Blásquez 1959). An average annual discharge of almost 2,800 ha² makes the Rio Yaqui one of the major watersheds of that region (Tamayo and West 1964). The small percentage of this system that lies within southwestern United States contributes a substantial proportion of the native ichthyofauna of that area - 6 to 8 species of fishes were originally present, of which 5 did not occur elsewhere in the United States.