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Environment

Geography word of the week: Arroyo

  • Feb 09, 2016
  • 91 words
  • 1 minutes
A little arroyo running through the Sonoran Desert in Sahuarita, Arizona. (Photo: $1LENCE D00600D/Wikipedia)
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Arroyo
(uhroi-oh)

Definition:
An arroyo is a dry river bed or seasonally active creek. They are usually found in deserts or other arid climates and completely dry up between periods of wet weather.

Origin:
Spanish; akin to Latin arr?gia mine shaft, 1800-1810

Example:
California’s Arroyo Seco is a well-known arroyo. Arroyos can also be man-made to distribute water or prevent flooding during heavy rains, such as in Albuquerque, New Mexico where several miles of open-air concrete lined channels drain into the main North Diversion Channel.

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