| Aripuanã River | |
| Map: | Madeirarivermap.jpg |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Brazil |
| Length: | [1] |
| Discharge1 Location: | Novo Aripuanã, Amazonas (near mouth) |
| Discharge1 Min: | [2] |
| Discharge1 Avg: | (Period: 1979–2015)[3] |
| Source1 Location: | Mato Grosso, Brazil |
| Mouth: | Madeira River |
| Mouth Location: | Novo Aripuanã, Amazonas, Brazil |
| Mouth Coordinates: | -5.1186°N -60.3819°W |
| Progression: | Madeira → Amazon → Atlantic Ocean |
| River System: | Amazon |
| Basin Size: | to 147224km2 |
| Tributaries Left: | Juma, Roosevelt, Guaribe, Branco |
| Tributaries Right: | Arauá |
Aripuanã River (Portuguese: Rio Aripuanã) is a river in the Mato Grosso and Amazonas states in north-western Brazil. It is a tributary of the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin. The town of Novo Aripuanã is located on its banks where it merges into the Madeira River. The town of Aripuanã is also on its banks, but on the upper (southern) section of the river.
The Aripuanã is a clearwater river.[4] [5]
In Mato Grosso to the south of the border with Amazonas the river defines the western boundary of the Igarapés do Juruena State Park, created in 2002.To the north of the Amazonas border it flows through the Aripuanã Sustainable Development Reserve, created in 2005.
Further north in Amazonas the Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-230) crosses the Aripuanã.North of the highway the river flows through the Aripuanã National Forest, a sustainable development unit created in 2016 in the last week before the provisional removal of president Dilma Rousseff.It then flows through the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve before meeting the Madeira.
There are four dams on the river (Dardanelos Dam, Faxinal I and Faxinal II at Aripuanã town, and Juína Dam west of Juína) and a fifth is planned (Prainha Dam on the middle Aripuanã River). These have impacted the environment and caused conflicts with indigenous people.[6] [7]