Baliem River
The Baliem River is a river in the Highland Papua and South Papua provinces of Western New Guinea, Indonesia. It is the largest tributary of the Pulau River, formerly called the Eilanden River. With a total length of.
Hydrology
The river begins as the Baliem Timur in the northern Maoke Mountains at Lake Habbema in Jayawijaya Regency, north of Mount Trikora. The Baliem Timur flows west to meet the Baliem Barat before turning north. After traveling underground for several kilometers through a sinkhole in an area of Karst limestone geology, it emerges and travels northeast to near Tiom in Lanny Jaya Regency. This section of the river was formerly known as the Noordelijke Baliem in Dutch. After flowing east through Lanny Jaya, the Baliem turns southeast as it enters the wide, flat Great Baliem Valley. In the center of the valley, it meanders southeast to meet the Uwe River in the town of Wamena, the capital of Highland Papua province. South of Wamena, the river plunges southeast through a steep gorge with many rapids and waterfalls and is joined by the Mugi and Kwik rivers. 70 kilometers southeast of Wamena the Heluk River enters the Baliem near Holuwon village. From here, the river was called Vriendschaps River at the time of Dutch East Indies and Dutch New Guinea, before the course of the river was fully explored.Below Holuwon, the river leaves the southern foothills of the Maoke or Jayawijaya Mountains and becomes a braided river heading to the southwest through the lowland rainforest of South Papua. After 100 kilometers, the Baliem, slightly upstream from the village of Kaima, flows into the Pulau River, which flows into the Arafura Sea about 100 kilometers southwest on the Casuarina Coast.
Ecology
The Baliem River has a length of about 60–80 km with a width of 15–20 m, flowing through the town of Wamena. The water temperature is around 14 to 18 °C. The acidity of the Baliem River is around 6.8–7.5, and the oxygen level is 4.1–4.3 mg/L. The flow rate is 0.09–0.92 m/det.; clarity 17–160 cm and depth 0.60–3.7 meter.The river is inhabited by a crayfish of the genus Cherax, highly valued by the locals, which is nocturnally active along the shoreline and then returns to deep waters during the daytime. The river is flanked by flood-prone swamps which local pigs roam in.