Huasco River

Huasco River is a river of Chile located in the Huasco Province, Atacama Region. Its headwaters in the upper catchments in high-altitude Andes glaciers are the Estrecho River, a tributary of El Tránsito River (catchment area 4,135 km2), and Potrerillos River, a tributary of El Carmen River (catchment area 2 890 km2). The Huasco River begins at the confluence of El Tránsito River and El Carmen River which is located in Junta del Carmen (790ma.s.l.).

Cities and towns along the Huasco include: Vallenar, Freirina and Huasco. Near Vallenar the river is crossed by Huasco Bridge which was planned in 1964 and finished in 1977. The river is an important source of water for agriculture and fed as of 2018 a network of 319 irrigation channels. The main crops planted along the valley are table grapes, olives and forage cultivars like alfalfa.

The river has been affected by drought several times in history, notably in 1819, 1821, 1924–1925, 1933, 1967–1969 and 1988–1990. This last drought contributed to launch the construction of the long-planned Embalse Santa Juana that impounds a small portion of the river's course. Large floods and mudflows in the river occurred in 1833, 1905–1906, 1997 and 2015.

The etymology of Huasco is uncertain, it is often suggested the word is of Quechua origin but proposals for its meaningen differ more for example "gold river", "cold river", "ravine" or "mudflow".