Tecolutla River
{{Redirect|Río Tecolutla|the bus station in Mexico City|Río Tecolutla (Mexico City Metrobús)}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Tecolutla River
| name_native = {{native name|es|Río Tecolutla}}
| name_native_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology = Classical Nahuatl: tecolotl, "owl" + lan, "place"
| image = Río Tecolutla en Semana Santa.jpg
| image_size = 300
| image_caption = The Tecolutla River at Gutiérrez Zamora
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| map_size = 300px
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| pushpin_map_size = 300px
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| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = Mexico
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Veracruz
| subdivision_type3 =
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| subdivision_type4 =
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| subdivision_type5 = City
| subdivision_name5 = Gutiérrez Zamora
| length = {{convert|375|km|mi|abbr=on}}{{cite book|editor=Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources|title= Statistics on Water in Mexico, 2015 edition|publisher=National Water Commission in Mexico (CONAGUA)|date=December 2015|url=http://www.conagua.gob.mx/CONAGUA07/Publicaciones/Publicaciones/EAM2015_ing.pdf|format=PDF|pages=51|accessdate=6 January 2017}}{{efn|Includes length of tributaries}}
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| source1 = Confluence of the Necaxa and Apulco Rivers
| source1_location = Espinal, Veracruz, Mexico
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|20.242|N|97.439|W|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation =
| mouth = Gulf of Mexico
| mouth_location = Tecolutla, Veracruz, Mexico
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|20.475|N|97.000|W|display=inline,title}}
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| basin_size = {{convert|7903|km2|abbr=on}}
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| extra = {{notelist}}
}}
The Tecolutla River is a river in the state of Veracruz in Mexico, and the main drainage of the historical and cultural region of Totonacapan.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Valderrama Rouy |first=Pablo |title=The Totonac |encyclopedia=Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico |year=2005 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiqN2ziI_eYC&pg=PA187 |pages=187 |isbn=0816524114}} It is principally fed by four rivers that rise in the Sierra Norte de Puebla: from north to south, they are the Necaxa, the Lajajalpan (or Laxaxalpan), the Tecuantepec and the Apulco.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Hidrología |encyclopedia=Atlas del patrimonio natural, histórico y cultural de Veracruz |language=es |year=2010 |publisher=Government of Veracruz |url=http://cdigital.uv.mx/bitstream/123456789/9650/1/04HIDROLOGIA.pdf |pages=97–98 |volume=1}} These rivers converge in the municipality of Espinal, Veracruz, and from here the Tecolutla flows about {{convert|100|km}} east through the coastal plain and the municipalities of Papantla and Gutiérrez Zamora to its mouth at the town of Tecolutla on the Gulf of Mexico,{{cite book |last=Kourí |first=Emilio |date=2004 |title=A Pueblo Divided: Business, Property, and Community in Papantla, Mexico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blC7iQPL8uAC&pg=PA37 |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=37 |isbn=0804739390}} On its south bank the Tecolutla receives the Joloapan River near Paso del Correo, and the Chichicatzapan River via the Ostiones estuary near its mouth.
The furthest source of the Tecolutla is the Arroyo Zapata, located {{convert|20|km}} north of Huamantla, Tlaxcala at an elevation of {{convert|3500|m}}. This arroyo flows into the Coyuca River, which in turn drains into the Apulco. The total length of the river measured from this source is {{convert|375|km}}. The watershed drained by the Tecolutla covers an area of {{convert|7903|km2}} and has a mean natural surface runoff of {{convert|6098|hm3|abbr=on}} per year.
The first important hydroelectric facilities in Mexico were built in the Tecolutla watershed on the Necaxa River. Nevertheless, the Tecolutla is considered one of the most well-preserved rivers in the state of Veracruz and its floodplains are agriculturally productive.{{cite web |url=http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/regionalizacion/doctos/rhp_062.html |title=76. RÍO TECOLUTLA |language=es |website=Regiones hidrológicas prioritarias |publisher=Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad |place=Mexico |date=19 December 2008 |accessdate=27 July 2016}} Vanilla may have been first cultivated by the Totonac in this area and has been an important part of their culture for centuries.{{cite book |editor1-last=Odoux |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Grisoni |editor2-first=Michel |date=2011 |title=Vanilla |url=http://www.crcnetbase.com/isbn/9781420083385 |location=USA |publisher=CRC Press |pages=252, 335 |isbn=978-1-4200-8337-8}} In general, the Tecolutla River Basin provided a strong foundation for the development of a relatively prosperous indigenous agriculture environment. This was because of a variety of factors such as its year long warm temperature, strong winds, and its rainfall patterns that allow for two crops of maize a year to be obtained without the assistance of irrigation.{{cite book |last1=Kourí |first1=Emilio |title=A Pueblo Divided: Business, Property, and Community in Papantla Mexico |date=2004 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804758482 |pages=38-41}}