Benanain River
Benanain River is a river of western Timor, Indonesia.[1][2] This river is the longest and the largest di the West Timor area, with a length of 132 km. The river is located in three regencies: Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara and Timor Tengah Selatan, province East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The upstream rises from Mount Mutis, flowing in the southeast direction until discharging to Timor Sea near Besikama.
| Benanain River Mota Benenain, Mota Benain, Benoin River, Sungai Benain, Noil Benain, Benain River | |
|---|---|
![]() Location of river mouth | |
| Location | |
| Country | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Mount Mutis |
| • elevation | 2,400 m (7,900 ft) |
| Mouth | Timor Sea |
• location | Malaka |
| Length | 132 km (82 mi) |
| Basin size | 3,158 km2 (1,219 sq mi) |
Hydrology
The watershed (Indonesian: Daerah Aliran Sungai/DAS) of Benanain has an area of 3,158 km2 comprising Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara, Timor Tengah Selatan and also a small part of Belu Regency. It is the largest watershed in Province East Nusa Tenggara. Benanain River has a characteristic of very extreme discharge fluctuation, giving the indication that the condition of this watershed is in a serious damage. Consequently, every year this river causes big flooding.
Tributaries
Some of the largest tributaries are:
- Baen River
- Biau River
- Asban River
- Okan River
- Muti River
- Bunu River
- Fatu River
- Laku River
- Besi River
Geography
The river flows in the middle south of Timor with predominantly tropical savanna climate (designated as Aw in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification).[3] The annual average temperature in the area is 26 °C. The warmest month is November, when the average temperature is around 29 °C, and the coldest is June, at 23 °C.[4] The average annual rainfall is 1760 mm. The wettest month is January, with an average of 305 mm rainfall, and the driest is September, with 5 mm rainfall.[5]
Uses
The inhabitants along the Benanain River use the water for agriculture and fisheries by traditional fishing or using nets. Benanain Dam is built[6] in Kakaniuk village, district of Malaka Tengah, Malaka Regency, can distribute water to 15,000 hectare of farmlands. Other than agriculture, the dam also for flood prevention.
Ecology
This river is a habitat of local crocodiles.[7]
See also
References
- Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.
- Mota Benenain at Geonames.org (cc-by); Last updated 17 January 2012; Database dump downloaded 27 November 2015
- Peel, M C; Finlayson, B L; McMahon, T A (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 11. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007.
- "NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index". NASA. 30 January 2016.
- "NASA Earth Observations: Rainfall (1 month – TRMM)". NASA/Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission. 30 January 2016.
- "Bendung Benanain, Kabupaten Malaka". Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- Gerombolan Buaya Berjemur Resahkan Warga
