Reservoir · Brazil · Paraguay
Itaipu Reservoir
Reservoir located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay
- Area
- 1,156km²
- Average depth
- 25m
- Elevation
- 217m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 2,170km
- Volume
- 29.0km³
Itaipu Reservoir is a reservoir in Brazil. It covers 1,156 km². On average it is 25 m deep. Its surface lies 217 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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The water
How warm is Itaipu Reservoir?
The water is warmest in January, around 28 °C at the surface, and coldest in July, around 19 °C. The surface averages 20 °C or more from September to June: comfortable for most swimmers.
It does not normally freeze in winter.
On the shore, afternoons reach 31 °C on average in December and 21 °C in July. The driest month is August (71 mm of rain), the wettest October (198 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (90 readings). Shallow bays and beaches are often warmer.
From above
The whole lake from space
Month by month
The year at the lake, month by month
Not a forecast: these are averages over many years. Water is the 2013–2021 average; air, rain, sun and wind are the 1991–2020 average.
Water: 2013–2021 averageClimate: 1991–2020 average
| Month | Water°C | Water high°C | Air high°C | Air low°C | Rainmm | Rainy daysdays | Sunh/day | Windkm/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28 | 28 | 31 | 25 | 148 | 17 | 8.1 | 10 |
| February | 28 | 28 | 31 | 24 | 133 | 17 | 7.4 | 10 |
| March | 27 | 27 | 31 | 23 | 113 | 14 | 7.8 | 10 |
| April | 25 | 26 | 28 | 20 | 123 | 11 | 7.2 | 10 |
| May | 23 | 24 | 24 | 16 | 159 | 10 | 5.6 | 11 |
| June | 21 | 22 | 22 | 14 | 101 | 10 | 5.3 | 11 |
| July | 19 | 20 | 21 | 14 | 80 | 8 | 5.9 | 12 |
| August | 20 | 20 | 24 | 15 | 71 | 7 | 6.8 | 12 |
| September | 21 | 22 | 27 | 17 | 110 | 10 | 6.4 | 12 |
| October | 24 | 25 | 29 | 21 | 198 | 16 | 6.5 | 12 |
| November | 26 | 27 | 30 | 22 | 168 | 13 | 7.9 | 12 |
| December | 27 | 28 | 31 | 24 | 173 | 16 | 7.9 | 11 |
Water: LakeTEMP (Landsat 8, 2013–2021). Air, rain, sun and wind: NASA POWER, 1991–2020 averages. A rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. Sunshine hours are derived from measured solar radiation.
Size & depth
How big, how deep
- On average, water stays in the lake for about 34 days before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 824,129 km² of land.
- About 10,027 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
- Its shoreline is 18.0 times longer than a circle of the same area: plenty of bays and inlets.
Around the shore
What's around Itaipu Reservoir
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 10beaches and swimming spots
Balneário de Santa Helena, Balneário Jacutinga, Balneário Natal, Playa Tacurú Pucú, Praia Artificial de Santa Helena and 5 more
- 11campsites
Parque de Lazer, Tati Yupi, AABB - Santa Helena, Balneário do Ipiranga, Parque de Lazer de Missal- Muito Bom and 6 more
- —boat hire and water-sport clubs
- 8marinas and slipways
Marina Alvorada, Jacutinga, Arroio Guaçu, Rampa de Barcos, Rampa and 3 more
- 10ferry piers
Puerto Adela (Py), Arroio Guaçu, Porto de Santa Helena (Br), Puerto Indio (Py), Porto Mendes (Br) and 5 more
- 3viewpoints
Mirante da Barragem, Viewpoint Itaipu Dam, Mirante do Vertedouro
- 67hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Motel Iara and 66 more
- 7fishing spots
Ponto de Pesca 20, Ponto de Pesca 37, Ponto de Pesca 47, Pesqueiro Tio Mário and 3 more
- 32restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- Santa Helena26,767 people
- Itaipulândia11,485 people
- Pato Bragado5,733 people
- Entre Rios do Oeste4,575 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Cataratas International Airport (IGU), 43 km in a straight line.
Car hire at IGU airport (Foz do Iguaçu)Discover Cars · Affiliate linkOpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: when a number is low, it may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Photos
Seen by visitors
Recent years
How each month compared
Afternoon high on the shore. The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years below show the difference from it: warmer in orange, cooler in blue.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2020 average | 31.1 | 31.1 | 30.9 | 28.4 | 23.5 | 21.6 | 21.3 | 23.8 | 26.7 | 28.8 | 29.7 | 31.1 |
| 2020 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +2.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +1.4 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +2.8 | +3.7 | +2.7 | −0.2 |
| 2021 | −1.7 | −1.5 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +2.3 | +0.2 | −0.2 | +2.2 | +3.6 | −2.0 | +1.9 | +4.6 |
| 2022 | +3.0 | +2.2 | −1.5 | −2.0 | −2.6 | −1.4 | +2.1 | −1.4 | −4.5 | −3.2 | −2.9 | +1.4 |
| 2023 | +0.5 | −2.1 | −1.5 | −1.6 | +1.1 | +0.3 | +1.8 | +1.8 | +2.6 | +1.6 | −0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +2.3 | +2.5 | +3.3 | +2.7 | +0.9 | +3.4 | −0.2 | +0.8 | +2.5 | +2.5 | +2.7 | −1.5 |
| 2025 | +3.8 | +1.7 | +2.2 | −0.8 | +2.6 | −1.2 | −0.7 | −1.8 | +1.0 | −1.3 | +0.1 | −1.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Outline, area, depth, volume | HydroLAKES v1.0 (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Water temperature and ice | LakeTEMP v1 (Korver et al. 2024), Landsat 8 2013–2021 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Air, rain, sun, wind | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · public domain |
| Names and description | Wikidata (Q10315670) · CC0 |
| Around the shore | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
