Rio Puerco (Rio Grande)
| Rio Puerco | |
 Old Rio Puerco Bridge on Route 66
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| Country | United States |
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| State | New Mexico |
| County | Socorro, Valencia, Bernalillo, Sandoval, Rio Arriba |
| Source | San Pedro Peaks |
| - location | Nacimiento Mountains |
| - elevation | 10,500 ft (3,200 m) |
| - coordinates | 36°7′28″N 106°49′53″W / 36.12444°N 106.83139°W |
| Mouth | Rio Grande |
| - elevation | 4,711 ft (1,436 m) |
| - coordinates | 34°22′23″N 106°50′33″W / 34.37306°N 106.84250°WCoordinates: 34°22′23″N 106°50′33″W / 34.37306°N 106.84250°W |
| Length | 230 mi (370 km) |
| Basin | 7,350 sq mi (19,036 km2) |
| Discharge | for USGS gage 08353000, 3 miles above mouth |
| - average | 39.5 cu ft/s (1.1 m3/s) |
| - max | 35,000 cu ft/s (991.1 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0.0 m3/s) |
 Map of the Rio Grande watershed, showing the Rio Puerco joining the Rio Grande near Albuquerque.
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The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source on the west side of the Nacimiento Mountains, it flows about 230 miles (370 km), generally south to join the Rio Grande about 20 miles (32 km) south of Belen and about 50 miles (80 km) south of Albuquerque. Its drainage basin is about 7,350 square miles (19,000 km2) large, of which probably about 1,130 square miles (2,900 km2) are noncontributing.
The Rio Puerco is ephemeral, with no streamflow for part of the year. Its discharge averages 39.5 cubic feet per second (1.12 m3/s). The maximum officially recorded discharge was 5,980 cubic feet per second (169 m3/s), in 1941. The greatest flood since about 1880 occurred on September 23, 1929, with an estimated discharge of 35,000 cubic feet per second (990 m3/s). Another flood, on August 12, 1929, reached an estimated 30,600 cubic feet per second (870 m3/s).
Although Rio Puerco means River of Pigs in Spanish, this usage in the SW United States is better translated as Muddy River.
The Rio Puerco arises in the San Pedro Peaks area of the Nacimiento Mountains, in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness area of the Santa Fe National Forest. It flows generally south and southwest, leaving the mountains and national forest near the village of Cuba. From there the river flows generally south. It flows along the west side of the Jemez Indian Reservation. Arroyo Chico joins from the west, between Mesa San Luis and Mesa Chivato. The Rio Puerco continues south, passing west of Mesa Prieta, then through the Laguna Indian Reservation and the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation. Near the Bernalillo–Valencia county line and the Isleta Indian Reservation the river is joined by the Rio San Jose, which flows from the west near Grants through the Laguna Reservation. The Rio Puerco continues south through the Albuquerque Basin to the Rio Grande about 20 miles (32 km) south of Belen and about 50 miles (80 km) south of Albuquerque.
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Wikipedia