{{Short description|River in Indonesia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}} {{Infobox river | name = Benanain River | name_other = Mota Benenain, Mota Benain, Benoin River, Sungai Benain, Noil Benain, Benain River | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | source1 = Mount Mutis | source1_elevation = {{cvt|2400|m}} | mouth = Timor Sea | mouth_location = Malaka | length = {{cvt|132|km}} | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Indonesia}} | basin_size = {{cvt|3158|km2}} | pushpin_map = Indonesia Lesser Sunda Islands | pushpin_map_caption = Location of river mouth }} The '''Benanain River''' is a river of western Timor, Indonesia.<ref>Rand McNally, ''The New International Atlas'', 1993.</ref><ref>[http://www.geonames.org/1649250/mota%20benenain.html Mota Benenain] at Geonames.org (cc-by); Last updated 17 January 2012; Database dump downloaded 27 November 2015</ref> This river is the longest and the largest in the West Timor area, with a length of 132 km. The river is located in three regencies: Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara and Timor Tengah Selatan, all in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The stream rises from Mount Mutis, flowing in a southeast direction before discharging into the Timor Sea near Besikama.
== Hydrology == The watershed (Indonesian: ''Daerah Aliran Sungai''/DAS) of Benanain has an area of 3,158 km<sup>2</sup> comprising most of Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara and Timor Tengah Selatan Regencies, and also a small part of Belu Regency. It has the largest watershed in the East Nusa Tenggara province. The Benanain River has a characteristic of very extreme discharge fluctuation, giving the indication that the condition of this watershed is in a serious damage. Consequently, every year this river causes much flooding.
=== Tributaries === Some of the largest tributaries of the river are: # Baen River # Biau River # Asban River # Okan River # Muti River # Bunu River # Fatu River # Laku River # Besi River
== Geography == The river flows in the middle south of Timor with predominantly tropical savanna climate (designated as ''Aw'' in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification).<ref name = "koppen">{{Cite journal | title = Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification| url = http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html| year = 2007| journal = Hydrology and Earth System Sciences| volume = 11 <!--sid = 1633-1644-->| date =<!-- 01/30/2016-->| doi = 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007| first1 =M C| first2 = B L| first3 = T A| last1 = Peel| last2 = Finlayson| last3 =McMahon| doi-access = free}}</ref> The annual average temperature in the area is 26 °C. The warmest month is November, when the average temperature is around 29 °C, and the coldest is June, at 23 °C.<ref name = "nasa">{{Cite web|url= http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php|title= NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index|date= 30 January 2016|publisher= NASA|access-date= 5 December 2018|archive-date= 11 May 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200511075542/https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php|url-status= dead}}</ref> The average annual rainfall is 1760 mm. The wettest month is January, with an average of 305 mm rainfall, and the driest is September, with 5 mm rainfall.<ref name = "nasarain">{{Cite web|url = http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=TRMM_3B43M&year=2014|title = NASA Earth Observations: Rainfall (1 month – TRMM)|date = 30 January 2016|publisher = NASA/Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission|access-date = 5 December 2018|archive-date = 19 April 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190419091014/https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=TRMM_3B43M&year=2014|url-status = dead}}</ref>
== Uses == The inhabitants along the Benanain River use the water for agriculture and fisheries by traditional fishing or using nets. The Benanain Dam<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wisata.nttprov.go.id/index.php/2014-01-20-04-43-22/kota-kupang/malaka/118-bendungan-benenain |title=Bendung Benanain, Kabupaten Malaka |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=12 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212123733/http://www.wisata.nttprov.go.id/index.php/2014-01-20-04-43-22/kota-kupang/malaka/118-bendungan-benenain |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Kakaniuk village, district of Malaka Tengah, Malaka Regency, can distribute water to 15,000 hectare of farmlands. Other than agriculture, the dam is also used for flood prevention.
== Ecology == This river is a habitat of local crocodiles.<ref>[http://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2014/01/17/2119426/Gerombolan.Buaya.Berjemur.di.Perkampungan.Warga.Resah. Gerombolan Buaya Berjemur Resahkan Warga]</ref>
==See also== *List of drainage basins of Indonesia *List of rivers of Indonesia
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{coord|9|40|S|124|56|E|display=title|region:ID_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}} {{Rivers of East Nusa Tenggara}}
Category:Rivers of West Timor Category:Rivers of Timor Category:Drainage basins of Timor