Sustainability Secretariat

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE NUEVO LEÓN

SECRETARÍA DE SUSTENTABILIDAD 

The environmental importance of the Santa Catarina River

The Santa Catarina River, cataloged as the green lung of the City of Monterrey, rises in the eastern Sierra Madre, in the Purísima canyon of the Sierra de San José and runs through part of the municipalities of Santiago, Santa Catarina, San Pedro, Monterrey, Guadalupe, Juárez and Cadereyta Jiménez. With an approximate basin of 1200 km2 and a length of 160 km, where it confluences with the San Juan River, one of the most important rivers in the northeastern region of Mexico.

The river normally carries with it a minor amount of water runoff, but when the valuable summer rains arrive, its channel usually carries significant amounts of water resulting from the runoff that is generated throughout its catchment basin.

However, beyond the important function that the Santa Catarina River channel plays in conducting runoff during the rainy season, it also constitutes an important natural area in which a large number of plant and animal species live, for example. which in 2008, an important section of the Santa Catarina River bed located in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Monterrey (AMM), was decreed as a State Protected Natural Area, in the category of Urban Park, under the name of “Linear Park”.

The bed of the Santa Catarina River that crosses the AMM is home to various species of flora and fauna, some endemic and others introduced. It is composed of riparian vegetation which develops along natural water courses, and constitutes a key element for the maintenance of river ecosystems. These plant communities represent a natural habitat, and in turn, biological corridors for the wild fauna that are found. develops in them. In addition, they fulfill the function of protecting large river avenues, thereby preventing river overflows and flooding.

Within the Santa Catarina River, 87 species, 77 genera and 37 high-stratum families (trees) have been recorded, among which 18 are introduced species and the rest are native species. As for the lower stratum, that is, herbaceous, 25 families have been sighted, which belong to 53 genera and 60 species. Of the total species, 10 are introduced species. Among the various native species are the Yucca filifera, the Black Willow, the Palo Blanco, the Tronadora, the Frémont Poplar, the Palo Verde, the Yellow Agave, the American Sycamore, the Nopal, the Anacua, the Huizache, the Guamúchil , the Cruceta, the sweet Mezquite, and the Chaparro prieto. On the other hand, among the native herbaceous plants are the Roserillo, the Sunflower, the Indian Bejuco, the Tule and the Mexican Oregano.

Regarding the fauna that lives in the river, there are more than 800 species distributed in various areas, within which you can find mammals such as the opossum, the Mexican loose-tailed bat, the American beaver; reptiles of the order of the blind snake, the blue-bellied spiny lizard; birds such as the pirirí tyrant, the raven wren, the crow and the pantropical jumping spider, the giant cicada or the spotted garden spider, and many others.

Historically, the presence of the Santa Catarina River has been of vital importance in the founding and growth of the AMM, in such a way that today the presence of the river is considered a great environmental advantage, in the face of the serious pollution problem that the city faces. for several years now. For all this, it is of vital importance that the inhabitants of the AMM learn to live with the river and its natural inhabitants, in order to continue being beneficiaries of the multiple environmental benefits that it offers us, in addition to providing the city with a space of great panoramic beauty.

References:

Rodríguez Palacios, E. & Vida Universitaria. (2020, July 15). Es río santa catarina un sistema de defensa natural. Vida Universitaria. Retrieved July 27, 2023, from https://vidauniversitaria.uanl.mx/expertos/es-rio-santa-catarina-mty-un-sistema-de-defensa-natural/

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