Teles Pires

The Teles Pires (Portuguese: Rio São Manuel) is a 1,370 km (850 mi) long river in Brazil.^[1] The river flows through the state of Mato Grosso and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. At its mouth it joins Juruena River and together they form the Tapajós, which is one of the biggest tributaries of the Amazon River. The most important^{[citation needed]} settlement along the river is Alta Floresta. One writer says that it was originally called the Paranatinga, and was renamed after Captain Telles Pires who died exploring the river in 1889.^[5]

Teles Pires River São Manuel River
Location
Country	Brazil
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Mato Grosso Plateau, Mato Grosso State
• coordinates	14°52′9.7608″S 54°38′52.8468″W
• elevation	750 m (2,460 ft)
Mouth	Tapajós River
• location	Mato Grosso State
• coordinates	7°21′01″S 58°08′18″W
• elevation	100 m (330 ft)
Length	1,370 km (850 mi)[1]
Basin size	141,987 km2 (54,821 sq mi)[2]
Discharge
• location	Confluence of Juruena
• average	(Period: 1970-2000)3,960.8 m3/s (139,870 cu ft/s)[2]
Discharge
• location	Três Marias, Pará State, Mato Grosso State (Basin size: 137,485 km2 (53,083 sq mi)
• average	(Period of data: 1970-1996)3,978 m3/s (140,500 cu ft/s)[3] (Period: 1970-2000)3,806.5 m3/s (134,430 cu ft/s)[2] (Period: 1976-2008)3,741 m3/s (132,100 cu ft/s)[4]
• minimum	861 m3/s (30,400 cu ft/s)[4]
• maximum	10,362 m3/s (365,900 cu ft/s)[4]
Discharge
• location	Indeco, Mato Grosso State (Basin size: 51,277 km2 (19,798 sq mi)
• average	(Period of data: 1970-1996)1,178 m3/s (41,600 cu ft/s)[3]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Verde, Apiacás
• right	Peixoto de Azevedo, São Benedito

Several dams are planned on the river in the "Hidrovia Tapajos/Teles Pires" project to create a navigable waterway connecting the interior of Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. The waterway will consist of five dams on the Teles Pires river (53 megawatts (71,000 hp) Magessi Dam, 430 megawatts (580,000 hp) Sinop Dam, 342 megawatts (459,000 hp) Colíder Dam, 1,820 megawatts (2,440,000 hp) Teles Pires Dam, 746 megawatts (1,000,000 hp) Sao Manoel Dam) and the 5,230 megawatts (7,010,000 hp) Foz do Apiacas Dam on the Apiacas river.

The Colíder Dam and the Teles Pires Dam are currently under construction, while the smaller upstream dams are still in the planning stages.^[6]