Salar de Punta Negra lies at the centre of a converging drainage network and is surrounded by a bajada which often becomes steep where it meets the playa and is itself crisscrossed by channels that originate in dry valleys at the top of the bayada. Of these dry valleys, four of these in the Western Cordillera carry water seasonally and are known as Quebrada Zorros, Quebrada Zorritos, Quebrada Tocomar (or Toconar) and Quebrada Llullaillaco. These are often subject to flash floods which occasionally reach the playa surface in the form of mudflows. Additional valleys are the Quebrada El Salto and the Quebrada El Salado. The Río Frio enters the Salar from the south and gets its water from the Cordillera Domeyko. Finally, fault-controlled springs such as Barrancas Blancas and water seeps at the eastern margin of Salar de Punta Negra discharge water.