The Futaleufú River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 fed by the lakes in the Los Alerces National Park

Los Alerces National Park

The Los Alerces National Park is a national park in Chubut Province, Argentina, some 30 miles from Esquel. It is a park of 2,630 square kilometres along the border with Chile, best known for the alerce trees from which the park takes its name.The park was created in 1937 in order to protect the...

 in Chubut Province

Chubut Province

Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, crossing the Andes Mountains and the international border into Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 and opening into the Yelcho Lake

Yelcho Lake

Yelcho Lake is a fjord-shaped lake located in the southern Los Lagos Region, in the Palena Province, Chile. Its outlet is a river of the same name, which flows north-west and empties into Gulf of Corcovado, near Chaitén. The lake is fed by the Futaleufú River. The Carretera Austral runs along its...

.

The river is known for its deep blue waters created by glacier till

Till

thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material , and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till....

 deposited in the river, and for its white water currents, which attract rafters and kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

ers from around the world. The Chilean government

Politics of Chile

The politics of Chile takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Chile is both head of state and head of government, and of a formal multi-party system that in practice behaves like a two-party one, due to binominalism. Executive power...

 has recently proposed creating a hydroelectric dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

, which may jeopardize the free flow of the river in the near future. This project is not expected to start until after 2012 as the Endesa Power company is intent on first building a dam on the Baker river South of Futaleufú. On the Argentine side of the border, there is another hydroelectric dam in service since 1976. The compound supplies electricity power to the aluminium alloy plant of ALUAR in Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn is a city in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is the head town of the Viedma Department, and has about 57,571 inhabitants according to the last census in 2001....

.

The Futaleufú Department

Futaleufú Department

Futaleufú is a department in the north west of Chubut Province, Argentina. Its main town and capital is Esquel to the north, with Trevelin and El Corcovado as the only other towns of significant size. Other settlements are Cerro Centinela, Aldea Escolar, Los Cipreses and Lago Rosario...

 of Chubut Province in Argentina was named after this river.

The town of Futaleufú, Chile

Futaleufú, Chile

Futaleufú is a Chilean town and commune located in Palena Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune is named after Futaleufú River. Due to the eruption of Chaitén Volcano and the subsequent destruction of Chaitén, Futaleufú has been the capital of Palena Province since March 2009. The town is close...

is close to the Argentine border and has a population of about 2,000. The main income for the community is fly fishing, white water rafting, and tourism.