Laleia River - Misplaced Pages

River in Timor-Leste

Laleia River
A braided channel of the river, lined with Savanna and Casuarina
Location of river mouth
Native name	Ribeira de Laleia / Rio de Laleia (Portuguese) Mota Laleia (Tetum)
Location
Country	Timor-Leste
Municipalities	Baucau Manatuto Viqueque
Physical characteristics

Source confluence
• location	Manatuto / Viqueque border

Mouth	Wetar Strait
• location	Suco Lifau (Laleia)
• coordinates	8°29′47″S 126°09′39″E / 8.49633°S 126.16075°E / -8.49633; 126.16075

The Laleia River (Portuguese: Ribeira de Laleia or Rio de Laleia, Tetum: Mota Laleia) is a major river in northeastern Timor-Leste. It flows north from the country's central mountains into Wetar Strait.

Etymology

The river shares its name with the village of Laleia [de] (also known as Leleia or Lifau) on its left bank, a short distance south of its mouth. Extending eastwards from the village is a bridge, the Laleia Bridge, which carries National Road A01 (Dili – Com, Lautém) across the river.

Both the village and the bridge are adjacent to the border between Haturalan [de] and Lifau, two of the three sucos of another namesake of the river, Laleia administrative post (the third suco is Cairui [de]).

According to a list prepared by Afonso de Castro [de], governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor from 1859 to 1863, Laleia was one of 47 kingdoms in that colony at the time.

Course

The headwaters of the river are in the portion of Timor-Leste's central mountains ranging from, in the west, the westernmost parts of northern Suco Barique in Barique administrative post, Manatuto municipality, to, in the east, the area surrounding the border between Suco Ossouala [de], Vemasse administrative post, Baucau municipality, and Suco Liaruca [de], Ossu administrative post, Viqueque municipality.

The river flows primarily in a northerly direction; after running through Laleia administrative post, it discharges into Wetar Strait.

Catchment

The river's catchment or drainage basin is located mainly in the municipality of Manatuto; some parts of it are in one or other of the adjacent municipalities of Baucau and Viqueque. It is about 533 km (206 sq mi) in area, with a channel length of 55 km (34 mi).

Timor-Leste has been broadly divided into twelve 'hydrologic units', groupings of climatologically and physiographically similar and adjacent river catchments. The Laleia River catchment is one of the two major catchments in the Laleia hydrologic unit, which is about 1,009.9 km (389.9 sq mi) in total area; the other is the Vemasse River [de] catchment.

Economy

Mining

In November 2022, the Timor-Leste government, through its Council of Ministers, approved the opening of concession areas in three rivers, including the Laleia River, for the mining of industrial minerals to be used in the production of construction materials.

Also approved in November 2022 were tender terms for the award of mining rights in the concession areas.

Each of the three rivers has abundant sediments transported from upstream in its catchment, or created by erosion of its banks. The sediments are deposited as either gravel or sand on the river's braided flood plains. After being deposited, the gravel and sand can be extracted and used primarily in the construction of small- to medium scale projects.

The Laleia River concession has a total estimated surface area of 174 ha (430 acres). It is made up of two zones, one 500 m (1,600 ft) upstream of the Laleia Bridge, and the other extending from 500 m downstream of the bridge to 500 m away from the Wetar Strait shoreline.