Motagua River

{{Hatnote|"Motagua" redirects here. For the association football club, see F.C. Motagua. Not to be confused with Mataguá.}} {{Infobox river | name = Motagua River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology =  | image = Motagua.km.jpg | image_caption = The Motagua River during the dry season | map = Río Motagua.jpg | map_size = | map_caption = The Motagua River, flowing from the highlands in western Guatemala to the coast at the Guatemala–Honduras border | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = |mapframe=yes | pushpin_map_caption=  | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = Guatemala and Honduras | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|486.55|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="INSIVUMEH" /> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|208.7|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="INSIVUMEH" /> | discharge1_max =  | source1 = Quiché Department | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= {{coord|14|56|57|N|91|00|32|W|display=inline}} | source1_elevation = {{convert|1800|m|abbr=on}} | source2 = Baja Verapaz Department | source2_location = | source2_coordinates= | source2_elevation = | mouth = Gulf of Honduras in the Atlantic Ocean | mouth_location = Puerto Barrios | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|15|43|29|N|88|13|18|W|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|0|m|abbr=on}} | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|12670|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="INSIVUMEH" /> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''Motagua River''' ({{IPA|es|moˈtaɣwa}}) is a {{convert|486|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of {{convert|12670|km2|sqmi}} and is the largest in Guatemala.

The Motagua River valley contains sources of jadeitite, which has been used by many Indigenous communities that have inhabited the region. The Motagua River is also one of the most plastic-emitting rivers in the world, contributing around two percent of global plastic pollution emissions into oceans annually. Conservation efforts have been driven by the government and non-governmental organizations to ensure safe water and clean oceans.

== Course == The river begins in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs along the Atlantic slope.<ref name= "INSIVUMEH">{{Cite web |title=RIOS DE GUATEMALA |url=https://insivumeh.gob.gt/hidrologia/rios%20de%20guate.htm |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=INSIVUMEH}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2021-03-15 |title=Rural young feminists defend Motagua River through artivism – GAGGA |url=https://gaggaalliance.org/rural-young-feminists-defend-motagua-river-through-artivism-2/ |access-date=2023-04-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> Traveling in an easterly direction, it passes through 14 of Guatemala's departments and contains seven distinct ecoregions.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=Rodríguez |first1=Jorge |last2=Carbajal |first2=Richard |last3=Colindres |first3=Misael |date=2022-04-22 |title=Motagua: A river that rises in Guatemala and is threatened in Honduras |url=https://historiassinfronteras.com/proyectos/rio-motagua/index-eng.html |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Historias Sin Fronteras |language=en}}</ref> Along its course, water flows in from 29 other major rivers.<ref name=":0" /> The final few kilometres of the river form part of the Guatemala–Honduras border.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fisher |first=F. C. |date=1933 |title=The Arbitration of the Guatemalan-Honduran Boundary Dispute |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/arbitration-of-the-guatemalanhonduran-boundary-dispute/ED4169DE34F733D3478C1E64A7B0FD3F |journal=American Journal of International Law |language= |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=403–427 |doi=10.2307/2189971 |jstor=2189971 |s2cid=147670425 |issn=|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The river mouth opens at El Quetzalito Beach, which is located along the Guatemalan coast, and flows into the Gulf of Honduras.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Mazariegos-Ortíz |first1=Carlos |last2=de los Ángeles Rosales |first2=María |last3=Carrillo-Ovalle |first3=Leonel |last4=Cardoso |first4=Renan Pereira |last5=Muniz |first5=Marcelo Costa |last6=dos Anjos |first6=Roberto Meigikos |date=2020 |title=First evidence of microplastic pollution in the El Quetzalito sand beach of the Guatemalan Caribbean |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0025326X20303386 |journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin |language=en |volume=156 |article-number=111220 |doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111220|pmid=32365004 |bibcode=2020MarPB.15611220M |s2cid=218504601 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Motagua River valley also marks the Motagua Fault, the tectonic boundary between the North American and the Caribbean Plates.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Christina |date=2002 |title=Geotimes - August 2002 - Guatemala Jade |url=http://www.geotimes.org/aug02/NN_jade.html |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=www.geotimes.org}}</ref> The Motagua fault has been the source of several major earthquakes in Guatemala.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Guzmán-Speziale |first1=Marco |last2=Molina |first2=Enrique |date=2022 |title=Seismicity and seismically active faulting of Guatemala: A review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981122000311 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=115 |article-number=103740 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103740 |bibcode=2022JSAES.11503740G |s2cid=246740088 |issn=0895-9811|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==History== The river runs in a valley that has the only known source of jadeitite (jade) in Mesoamerica.<ref name=":1" /> Green jade, which was used by the Aztec and Maya people, was re-discovered in the 1950s by American geologist William Foshag, who was directed by a local tomato farmer.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |date=2002-10-01 |title=Re-Discovery of Olmec Blue Jade |url=https://www.hgs.org/node/3762 |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Houston Geological Society |language=en}}</ref> The rarer blue-green jade, used by the Olmec people, was re-discovered further north of the river in 2002.<ref name=":2" />

The Olmecs were believed to have first settled in the Motagua River valley in around 3000 BC.<ref name=":5" /> They constructed figures, masks, and ornaments using the blue-green jade.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Benitez |first=Alex |date=2013 |title=Trails of Cultures: Trade Routes Connected Ancient Central America |url=https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/trails-cultures-trade-routes-connected-ancient-central-america |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=NMAI Magazine |language=en}}</ref> The Maya likely settled in the Motagua River valley in around 2000 BC.<ref name=":4">Fabricant, Florence. "Monuments of the Maya: Copan and Quirigua in Central America are Dotted with Majestic Stele, Arrayed Like Sandstone Sculptures Maya Monuments." ''New York Times (1923-)'', 1993, pp. 180''.''</ref> They used the green jade to make beads and amulets.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rochette |first=Erick T. |date=2009 |title=13 Jade in Full: Prehispanic Domestic Production of Wealth Goods in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1551-8248.2009.01021.x |journal=Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=205–224 |doi=10.1111/j.1551-8248.2009.01021.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These objects were often used for religious rituals or to signify wealth.<ref name=":3" /> The Maya site of Copán, located along the river, contains several ruins of monuments and religious structures.<ref name=":4" /> The important Maya site of Quirigua is near the river's north bank, as are several smaller sites with jade quarries and workshops.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

The river was also an important commerce route during the Pre-Columbian era.<ref>Sharer, Robert. (2012) [https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/time-of-kings-and-queens/ "Time of Kings and Queens."] ''Expedition Magazine.'' '''54''' (1): 26-35.</ref> The trade route played a role in facilitating the transfer of goods, ideas, and even people.<ref name=":3" /> The river's use as a trade route is evidenced by jade items and specific methods of pottery having been discovered across multiple different regions in Mesoamerica.<ref name=":3" />

==Pollution==

=== History === Pollution is reported to have first affected the river in 2003 when industrial waste from a power plant in Guatemala City was carried down the Río Las Vacas, one of its tributaries.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Orellana |first=Claudia |date=2003 |title=Pollution Crisis Strikes Guatemalan Rivers |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.2307/3868029 |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=63 |jstor=3868029 |bibcode=2003FrEE....1...63O |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Those living along the river were instructed not to use the contaminated water for drinking, cooking, or cleaning.<ref name=":6" />

=== Water Quality === The water quality of rivers in Guatemala is generally poor because there are no standard measures for maintaining river water conditions.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Gil-Rodas |first1=Norma |last2=Calvo-Brenes |first2=Guillermo |last3=Guerra |first3=Alex |last4=Perdomo |first4=Alejandra |date=2021 |title=Water quality assessment of six rivers of the Pacific side of Guatemala |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12665-021-09505-w |journal=Environmental Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=196 |doi=10.1007/s12665-021-09505-w |bibcode=2021EES....80..196G |s2cid=232067091 |issn=|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Water quality regulation policy also often fails to dictate responsibilities between the government and individual departments, and has not been adequately implemented or coordinated at the administrative level.<ref name=":7" /> Despite this, attempts at legislation to improve water quality regulation have often prolonged for multiple years in the Guatemalan Congress.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last1=Cheatham |first1=Shea |last2=Fernández |first2=Rodrigo |last3=Ruiz |first3=Carlos |title=ICSD 2021 |date=2022 |chapter=Securing a National Water Policy in Guatemala: Understanding Barriers and Potential Implementation Strategies through Comparison with the Establishment of Regional Mining Laws |chapter-url=https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4931/15/1/64 |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=64 |doi=10.3390/environsciproc2022015064 |issn= |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The river is highly polluted with untreated sewage, industrial waste, tons of sediment (garbage) and blackwater from Guatemala City carried by the Río Las Vacas tributary.<ref>US Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District & Topographic Engineering Center. (2000). Water Resources Assessment of Guatemala. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131205151142/http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Portals/46/docs/military/engineering/docs/WRA/Guatemala/Guatemala%20WRA%20English.pdf]</ref> It is one of the world's most polluted rivers and accounts for about two percent of plastic emissions into the world's oceans.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Slat |first=Boyan |date=2022 |title=The Ocean Cleanup Trials New Interceptor in World's Most Polluting River |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/the-ocean-cleanup-trials-new-interceptor-in-worlds-most-polluting-river/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=The Ocean Cleanup}}</ref> Those living along the river also contribute to the pollution, as each person disposes, on average, 1.15 pounds of waste each day.<ref name=":1" />

=== Outcomes === As the pollution from the river reaches the Caribbean, it begins to harm marine environments.<ref name=":8" /> This pollution is especially dangerous in the marine protected areas of Honduras and Guatemala, in which conservation efforts are prioritized in an effort to maintain species diversity.<ref name=":8" /> The pollution also affects the many Indigenous communities who rely on the resources that the river provides.<ref name=":0" /> Additionally, members of coastal communities must often pick up the trash themselves and are financially burdened by the effects of pollution on popular industries such as fishing and tourism.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Schulze |first=Alex |title=A river of plastic: How 4ocean plans to clean up the Motagua River |url=https://oceanographicmagazine.com/features/4ocean-guatemala/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Oceanographic |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Conservation === Though the right to safe drinking water is mandated in Guatemala, it is obstructed by poor waste management regulations and limited government intervention.<ref name=":7" /> Much of Guatemala's rural population works in agriculture, which further increases the demand for safe water.<ref name=":9" /> The Guatemalan government began to take action by constructing bio-fences to filter waste traveling down the river.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sánchez |first1=Erica |last2=Maes |first2=Sophie |date=2018 |title=Guatemala Is Using 'Bio-Fences' to Curb Plastic Pollution |url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/guatemala-plastic-pollution-bio-fences/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Global Citizen |language=en}}</ref> They have also worked with the Stockholm International Water Institute to implement the National Water and Sanitation Policy in Guatemala, which outlines a number of objectives to improve regulation and conservation.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Alvarez Murillo |first1=Isabel |last2=Alvarez |first2=Lourdes |date=2023 |title=Guatemala is taking big steps to upgrade its National Water and Sanitation Policy |url=https://siwi.org/latest/guatemala-is-taking-big-steps-to-upgrade-its-national-water-and-sanitation-policy/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=SIWI |language=en-US}}</ref>

Conservation projects such as 4ocean's Project Guatemala seek to involve local government and community members in prioritizing limiting waste from reaching the ocean.<ref name=":11" /> The Ocean Cleanup chose the river as the test site for its experimental "Interceptor Trashfence", which attempted to filter out solid pollutants as they flowed downriver.<ref name=":10" /> This has been replaced by two improved systems: 1. In May of 2023, Interceptor 006 was installed (down stream from Guatemala City) an "Interceptor Barricade" type (June 13, 2023).<ref>{{cite web | title=Dashboard | url=https://theoceancleanup.com/dashboard/#interceptor006 }}</ref> The Ocean Cleanup’s deployment of Interceptor 006 in Guatemala is supported by Municipality of Guatemala, Guatemalan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Kia, The Coca-Cola Company, Maersk, Biosfera GT, Aliarse and Worthington Products. 2. At the northeastern end of the Rio Las Vacas, where the river empties into the Gulf of Honduras, and ultimately, leads to the Caribbean Sea, a second Interceptor 021 has been installed by TheOceanCleanup.com. Interceptor 021 is a crucial step towards restoring the Gulf of Honduras to its pristine state. This new project is a collaboration between The Ocean Cleanup and Guatemala’s Ministry of Environment (MARN).<ref>{{cite web | title=Dashboard | url=https://theoceancleanup.com/dashboard/#interceptor021 }}</ref>

==Tributaries==

=== Left === Río Cocoyá, Río Cotón, Río Suchicul, Río Morazán, Río Comajá, Río Lato, Río Huijo, Río La Palmilla, Río Teculutan, Río Pasabien, Río Hondo, Río Jones, Río Los Achiotes, Río Mayuelas, Río El Lobo, Quebrada Agua Fría, Quebrada La Vegega, Río Las Conchas

=== Right === Río Chipaca, Rio Agua Escondida, Rio Quisaya, Rio Pixcayá, Río Cotzibal, Río Las Vacas, Río Grande, Río Ovejas, Río El Tambor, Río San Vicente, Río Grande o Zapaca, Río Carí, Río Las Naranjas, Río Biafra, Río El Islote, Río Jubuco, Río Lagarto, Río Tepemechín, Río Juyamá, Río Bobos, Río Animas, Río Chiquito, Río Nuevo o Cacao

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Río Motagua|Motagua River}} *[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/guatemala_pol00.jpg Map of Guatemala including the river] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070718113415/http://www.authenticmaya.com/jade.htm Jade sources in The Motagua River Valley] * {{cite news |url=https://news.iwlearn.net/motagua-river-basin |title=Motagua River basin: Vital resource for Guatemala and Honduras |work=IW:Learn |date=28 March 2024 |access-date=1 April 2024}}

Category:Rivers of Guatemala Category:Rivers of Honduras Category:Geography of Mesoamerica Category:International rivers of North America Category:Guatemala–Honduras border Category:Border rivers