There are 44 of them - 41 of them following westward and three eastward. The rivers of Kerala are small, whether considered in terms of length, breadth or annual stream flow. The rivers flow fast, because of the hilly nature of the terrain and as the distance between the mountains and the sea is rather short. The rivers of Kerala have no deltas. Because of the smallness in size, these rivers are more susceptible to environmental onsloughts. The rate of utilisation of each unit of the river is also very high, due to the high density of population, as already mentioned earlier.
Despite the small size, the riverine biodiversity is very rich. For example, from Chalakudy river alone 98 species of fish have been identified. But the river Kaveri (mainly flowing through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), though 8 times the length of Chalakkudy has only 142 species of fish. The available statistical data about the rivers of Kerala are given in the following table.
 

No.	Name of the river	Districs which river basin is located	Origin and Elevation  (a.s.l)	Length of the River (km)	Main Tributaries	Basin Area (km2)		Average Annual Rainfall (mm)	Average Annual Stream Flow  (Mm3)	Navigable Length  (km)	Irrigation Projects	H.E projects
						Kerala	Other State
1	Achenkoil	Pathanamthitta Idukki Alapuzha	Pasukidamettu 700	128	Kallar	1484	Nil	2600	1484	32	Nil	Achencoil (Proposed)
2	Anjarakandy	Kannur	Kannoth 600m	40	Kappu Thodu Idumba Thodu	412	Nil	3500	413	27.2	Nil	Nil
3	Ayroor	Kollam Thiruvananthapuram	NA	17	Nil	66	Nil	2200	NA	1	Nil	Nil
4	Bharatha Puzha	Palakkad Malappuram &Thrissur	Anamalaihills 1964	209	Gayathri Puzha Chittor Puzha Kalpathi Puzha Thootha Puzha	4400	1786	2300	5082	40	Kanjira Puzha Chittor Puzha Walayar Malam Puzha etc.(8 Nos)	Malam Puzha
5	Chalakudy	Thrissur, Palakkad & Ernakulam	AnamalaiHills 1250m	130	Parambikulam Sholayar Karappara	1404	300	3600	1629	16	Chalakudy	Peringalkuth Sholayar
6	Chaliyar	Kozhikode Malappuram &Wayanad	Ilambalaari 2066	169	Karimpuzha Kanchirapuzha Cherupuzha	2535	388	3800	5902	68.4	Chalipuzha Olipuzha Baipurapuzha (6 Nos)	Pandiyar Punna Puzha etc(3 Nos)
7	Chandragiri	Kasargod	Pattighat 1350m	105	Payashani Chandragiri	570	836	4000	3964	12.8	Nil	Nil
8	Chittari	Kasargod	Chettiamchal 91m	25	Kalnad Bekal Chittari	145	Nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
9	Izhikkara	Kollam Thiruvananthapuram	Madathurikunnu 240m	56	Vattaparambu Vattam Thodu	642	Nil	2400	489	16	Nil	Nil
10	Kadalundi	Malappuram Palakkad	CherakombanMala 1160	130	Olipuzha Veliar	1122	Nil	3400	1137	43.2	Nil	Nil
11	Kallada	Kollam Pathanamthitta Thiruvananthapuram	Karimalai 1524m	121	Kulathupuzha Chendruni	1699	Nil	2800	3374	40	Kallada	Kallada
12	Kallayi	Kozhikode	Cherikkulathur 45m	40	Nil	96	Nil	3800	NA	9.6	Nil	Nil
13	Kamom	Kollam Thiruvananthapuram	NA/NA	27	Nil	114	Nil	2200	NA	1	Nil	Nil
14	Karamana	Thriruvananthapuram	NedumangadHills 186m	68	Kaviar Thodiyar	702	Nil	2600	836	NA	Nil	Nil
15	Kariangode	Kasargod Kannur	Padinalkad 1520m	64	Mundore Padimalahole Ariakkadavuhole	429	132	3600	1156	24	kakkadavu (investigated)	Nil
16	Karuvannur	Thrissur	Pumalai 1100m	40	Manali Kurumali Chimmani	1054	Nil	3200	1298	24	Peechi Chimmani	Nil
17	Kavvayi	Kasargod Kannur	Cheemeni 305m	31	Nil	143	Nil	3600	NA	9.6	Nil	Nil
18	Keecheri	Thrissur	MachadMala 365m	51	Choondal Thodu	401	Nil	3000	1024	NA	Vazhani	Nil
19	Korapuzha	Kozhikode	Arikkankunni 610m	40	Agalapuzha Pannurpuzha	624	Nil	3800	222	24.8	Nil	Nil
20	Kuppam	Kannur	Padinalkad 1630m	82	Cheriya Thodu Kuttikilpuzha	469	70	3600	1515	24	Nil	Nil
21	Kuttiyadi	Kozhikode	Narikotta 1320m	74	Onipuzha Thottilapalam Kannathil	583	Nil	4500	1273	9.6	Kuttiyadi	Kuttiyadi
22	Mahe	Kannur and Kozhikode	Wynadhills 910	54	Nil	394	Nil	3900	248	24	Nil	Nil
23	Manimala	Kottayam Pathananthitta	Tatamala 1156	90	Kokayar Elakkal Thodu	847	Nil	3300	1560	54.4	Nil	Nil
24	Manjeswar	Kasargod	Balepuni 60m	15	Pavuru	90	nil	3478	309	3.2	nil	nil
25	Meenachil	Kottayam	Araikunnumudi 1097m	78	Kadapuzha Kalathukadavu Kurisumalai	1272	Nil	3000	1059	41.6	Meenachil (investigated)	Nil
26	Mogral	Kasargod	Kanathur 250m	34	Nettipadi,Muliyar	132	nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
27	Muvattupuzha	Ernakulam Kottayam	Taragamkanam 1094m	121	Kallar Thodupuzha Kothamangalam	1554	Nil	3100	3560	25.6	Malamkara	Nil
28	Neyyar	Thiruvananthapuram	AgasthyaHills 1860m	56	Kallar Karavaliyar	497	Nil	2300	207	NA	Neyyar	Nil
29	Nileswar	Kasargod and Kannur	Kinanur 140m	46	Aryangal Baigotehole	190	Nil	4000	NA	NA	Nil	Nil
30	Pallikal	Kollam Pathanamthitta Thiruvananthapuram	NA	42	NA	220	Nil	2800	NA	3	Nil	Nil
31	Pamba	Pathanamthitta Idukki Alapuzha	Pulachimalai 1650m	176	Kakkiyar Kallar Arudai Pamba	2235	Nil	3600	3423	73.6	Pamba	Sabarigiri
32	Periyar	Idukki Ernakulam	Sivagiri 1830m	244	Muthirapuzha Idamalayar Mangalapuzha Perinjankutty	5284	114	3200	4867	72	Idamalayar	Sengulam Neriyamangalam Panniyar Idukki
33	Peruvamba	Kasargod Kannur	Pekkuru 325m	51	Macharu Thodu Mathamangalam Challachal	300	Nil	3600	1143	16	Nil	Nil
34	Puzhakkal	Thrissur	MachadMala 525	29	Para Thodu Nadu Thodu(etc.)	234	Nil	3000	1024	NA	Nil	Nil
35	Ramapuram	Kasargod Kannur	Iringal 57m	19	Nil	52	Nil	3600	NA	5.4	Nil	Nil
36	Shiriya	Kasargod	Ankekundi 230m	67	Kallanje Thodu Kanyana Thodu Eramathihole Kumbla	290	297	3700	1415	4.8	nil	nil
37	Thalasseri	Kannur	Kannoth 550m	28	Dharmadom puzha	132	Nil	3500	155	21.6	Nil	Nil
38	Tirur	Malappuram	Atavanad 86m	48	Vallilapuzha	117	Nil	3400	165	9.6	Nil	Nil
39	Uppala	Kasargod	Virakamba Hills 150m	50	Uppala	76	174	3478	309	3.2	nil	nil
40	Valapattanam	Kannur	Brahmagiri 1350m	110	Valiyapuzha Venipuzha	1321	456	3600	4779	44.8	Aralam (Investigated)	Barapoli (Proposed)
41	Vamanapuram	Kollam Thiruvananthapuram	Chembunji 1860	88	Nil	607	Nil	2200	1324	11.2	Nil	Nil

Note: (a.s.l) = above sea level, m=meter, km=kilo meter, km²=square kilometers, mm=mill meter, Mm³=Million cubic meters

Sources:
(1) Water resource of Kerala
(2) Water Atlas of Kerala

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