Lempa River

Lempa River
300px Sunset over the Lempa river
Countries	El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala
Source	Sierra Madre
- location	Olopa, Chiquimula, Guatemala
- elevation	1,200 m (3,937 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
- location	El Playón, Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates
Length	422 km (262 mi)
Basin	18,246 km2 (7,045 sq mi)
Discharge	for Cuscatlan bridge
- average	362 m3/s (12,784 cu ft/s)
Railroad Bridge (FENADESAL) over the Lempa river, as seen from the Carretera del Litoral highway bridge (El Salvador) Railroad Bridge (FENADESAL) over the Lempa river, as seen from the Carretera del Litoral highway bridge (El Salvador)

The Lempa River (Spanish: Río Lempa) is a 422-kilometre (262 mi) long river in Central America.

Geography

Its sources are located in between the Sierra Madre and the Sierra del Merendón in southern Guatemala, near the town of Olopa. In Guatemala the river is called Río Olopa and flows southwards for 30.4 kilometres (18.9 mi) before entering Honduras and changing its name to Lempa river at . In Honduras it flows through Ocotepeque Department for 31.4 kilometres (19.5 mi), and crosses the border with El Salvador at the town of Citalá () in the department of Chalatenango. The river continues its course for another 360 kilometres (220 mi) in El Salvador, flowing in a generally southwards direction until it reaches the Pacific Ocean in the department of San Vicente. The river forms a small part of the international boundary between El Salvador and Honduras.

The river's watershed covers 18,246 square kilometres (7,045 sq mi), of which 10,255 square kilometres (3,959 sq mi) (56 percent) is in El Salvador, 5,696 square kilometres (2,199 sq mi) in Honduras and 2,295 square kilometres (886 sq mi) in Guatemala. Forty-nine percent of El Salvador's territory is covered by the Lempa river basin, and 77.5 percent of the Salvadoran population lives in cities, towns, and villages that are in its basin, including the capital city of San Salvador.

Hydroelectricity

File:Rio Lempa Presa Enero 2011.jpg

15 de Septiembre Hydroelectric dam over the Rio Lempa, El Salvador

There are several hydroelectric dams along the river. In El Salvador there is the Guayojo dam, the Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam, the 5 de Noviembre dam, and the 15 de Septiembre dam which can be easily seen from the Pan-American highway.