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The 'Rio Puerco' is a river in the American state of New Mexico, USA. The Rio Puerco Valley is notable for once hosting a significant numbers of Anasazi (Basketmaker II) people, many of them fleeing the collapse of the Chacoan civilization. As it carries high levels of sediment, the Rio Puerco is a major source of suspended particulate matter.^[1] Overgrazing has made the Rio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico one of the most eroded river basins of the western United States and has increased the high sediment content of the river.^[2]
The Rio Puerco arises on the eastern flanks of the San Mateo Mountains and flows south into the Rio Grande below Albuquerque after being joined by the Rio San Jose coming from from the west near Grants through the Laguna Reservation.

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References

1. Aby S, Gellis A, Pavich M. The Rio Puerco Arroyo Cycle and the History of Landscape Changes. USGS Earth Surface Dynamics Program.
2. "Desertification", United States Geological Survey (1997)