Remontantes

Remontantes is a Portuguese term used in hydrology and water resources to denote the parts of a river, stream, or watershed located upstream from a defined point, such as a dam, reservoir, or measurement station. The concept is relative; something described as remontante is “upstream” compared to the reference point, while the opposite is "à jusante" or downstream.

In practice, remontantes are important for planning water supply, environmental assessment, flood management, and dam operations. For example, the quality and quantity of water in the remontantes portion can influence intake design, treatment needs, or reservoir inflow forecasts.

In land-use planning and environmental law, remontantes identify the catchment area upstream that can affect sediment transport, nutrient loads, or ecosystem retention downstream.

The term can appear in technical documents such as hydrographic reports, civil works specifications, and water-rights analyses. It is chiefly used in Portuguese-speaking regions; in other languages similar concepts exist (upstream or montante). It is often paired with "à montante" for upstream and "à jusante" for downstream, and is contrasted with "jusante."

Limitations: Since remontantes is a relative descriptor, its exact geographic extent is defined by the reference point chosen for analysis, so it can vary between projects.