The Moconá Falls (also known as the Yucumã Falls), where the river passes betweenArgentina andBrazil, are up to 3 km wideMap of theRio de la Plata Basin, showing the Uruguay River joining the Paraná nearBuenos Aires
The name of the river tends to comes from the Spanish settlers' interpretation of theGuaraní language word the inhabitants of the region used to designate it. There are several interpretations, including "the river of theuru (an indigenous bird)", and "[river of] the uruguá" (an indigenousgastropod,Pomellamegastoma).[5]
An unusual feature of the Uruguay River is asubmergedcanyon. This canyon formed duringthe Ice Age, when the climate was drier and the river was narrower. Its depth is up to 100 metres (330 ft) below the bottom of the river channel and it is one-eighth to one-third as wide as the river.[9][11] The canyon is only visible in two places, one of which is the Moconá Falls (also called the Yucumã Falls). However, the falls are not visible for 150 days per year and become more like rapids when they are not visible. Unlike mostwaterfalls, the Moconá Falls areparallel to the river, notperpendicular. The falls are 10 metres (33 ft) to 12 metres (39 ft) high and between 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) wide. They are 1,215 km (755 mi) from the mouth of the river.[9][11] The 17,491 ha (43,220 acres)Turvo State Park, created in 1947, protects the Brazilian side of the falls.[12]
Argentina and Uruguay experienced a conflict over the construction ofpulp mills on the Uruguay River. Two European companies, ENCE and Botnia, proposed buildingcellulose processing plants atFray Bentos, Uruguay, oppositeGualeguaychú, Argentina. According to a 1975 treaty, Argentina and Uruguay were supposed to jointly agree on matters relating to the Uruguay River.[18] Argentina alleged that Uruguay broke the treaty. Additionally, Argentina believed the Finnish company Botnia was polluting the fish and the overall environment of the river while Uruguay believed that the plant was not depositing a large amount of toxins in the Uruguay River.[19]
Starting in April 2005, residents of Gualeguaychú, as well as many others, protested, claiming that the plants would pollute the river shared by the two countries. Early in 2006, the conflict escalated into adiplomatic crisis,[citation needed] compelling one of the companies move the project 250 kilometres (160 mi) south. Beginning in December 2005, the international bridges linking the Argentine province ofEntre Ríos with Uruguay were intermittently blockaded by Argentine protesters, causing major disruptions in commercial traffic and tourism.
In 2006, Argentina brought the dispute before theInternational Court of Justice. The ICJ completed hearings between Argentina and Uruguay regarding the dispute on October 2, 2009. In 2010, the court ruled that although Uruguay failed to inform Argentina of the construction of the pulp mills, the mills did not pollute the river, so closing the remaining pulp mill would be unjustified. Later in 2010, Argentina and Uruguay created a joint commission to coordinate activities on the river.
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