Hydrology

Abstract

The Pantanal is fed by small amounts of ground water throughout the year and large quantities of rainwater seasonally. Much of the water enters through a number of large rivers which converge on it. Most of these arise from the high plateau that surrounds its watershed. The main rivers flowing into the northernmost part of the Pantanal are the upper Rio Paraguay, Rio Cuiabé, and their many smaller tributaries (Fig. 2.3). South of the Rio Cuiabé, several other river systems flow toward the Rio Paraguay from the east, and a smaller number drain the watersheds in Bolivia and Paraguay and join it from the west. The Pantanal is then drained almost entirely through the Lower Rio Paraguay, a tributary of the Paraná River. The water eventually reaches the Atlantic Ocean through the Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay (Fig. 2.2).