Portugués River

Coordinates: 17°59′31.488″N 66°35′51.2874″W / 17.99208000°N 66.597579833°W / 17.99208000; -66.597579833
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Río Portugués
Río Baramaya,
Río Ponce,
Río Tibes
Barrio Tibes
Location
CommonwealthPuerto Rico
MunicipalityPonce
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBarrio Portugués, Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
 • coordinates17°59′31.488″N 66°35′51.2874″W / 17.99208000°N 66.597579833°W / 17.99208000; -66.597579833
 • elevation2,853 feet (870 m)[1]
Mouth 
 • location
Bucaná River
 • elevation
3 feet (0.91 m)[2]
Length18.43 miles (29.66 km)[3][4]
Basin size20.33 sq mi (52.7 km2)[5][6]
Discharge 
 • average16,000 cu ft/s (450 m3/s)[7]
Basin features
Progression
Río Bucaná
Tributaries 
 • rightChiquito River
Corcho River (Adjuntas)

Río Portugués is a river in the municipality of

rivers in the municipality
.

Origin

Río Portugués has its origin in Cerro Guilarte,[14] located the western part of barrio Portugués in the bordering municipality of Adjuntas,[15][a] just north of Ponce, and drains into the Caribbean Sea after running for some 27.6 kilometers (17.1 mi).[16][note 1] The river has a discharge of 16,000 feet3/second.[17] The toponymy, or origin of the name, comes from one of its first settlers, Pedro Rodríguez de Guzman, known as el Portugués ("the Portuguese") because his ancestry was from Portugal.[18][note 2]

Tributaries

Map showing the location of Río Portugués among the other rivers in the municipality. The area in pink represents the urban zone of the city

tributaries of Río Portugués (i.e., Río Chiquito feeds into Río Portugués).[19] In the sectors and sub-barrios that it traverses, the locals call the river by the name of such sector/barrio. Thus names such as Río Cedro, Río Nuez, Río Moscada, and Río Tibes as the unofficial local name of Río Portugués in the sectors known as Cedro, Nuez, Moscada and Tibes.[20]

Course of the river

Starting at its origin in Barrio Portugués, Adjuntas, Río Portugués, as it is known locally, begins to form at an altitude of approximately 2,853 feet (870 m) above

San Anton, and continues its southerly course towards Avenida Las Américas (PR-163
).

The following table summarizes the course of the river in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in Ponce's

Barrio Guaraguao
in the north to the Caribbean Sea in the south (N/A = Data not available):

No. Barrio Road Road's
km marker		 NBI ID[22] Bridge name
(if any)		 Direction
(of bridge traffic)		 Coordinates Notes
1
Guaraguao
PR-10
 19.1 025961 Unnamed Both 18°7′13.692″N 66°39′31.6074″W / 18.12047000°N 66.658779833°W / 18.12047000; -66.658779833 0.5 km N of
PR-515
2
San Patricio[23]
PR-10
 14.8 N/A Unnamed Both 18°7′13.2594″N 66°39′19.008″W / 18.120349833°N 66.65528000°W / 18.120349833; -66.65528000 0.3 km E of
PR-10
, on Camino Soñadora
3 Tibes
PR-503
 N/A N/A Unnamed Both 18°6′9.90″N 66°38′35.0514″W / 18.1027500°N 66.643069833°W / 18.1027500; -66.643069833 0.1 km N of Camino Robles; Bridge obliterated by the
Portugues Dam
4 Tibes
PR-503
 N/A 004901 Unnamed Both 18°5′51.0354″N 66°38′30.012″W / 18.097509833°N 66.64167000°W / 18.097509833; -66.64167000 At entrance to Camino Pastillo; Bridge obliterated by the
Portugues Dam
5 Tibes
PR-10
 N/A N/A Unnamed Both 18°5′19.14″N 66°38′24.9354″W / 18.0886500°N 66.640259833°W / 18.0886500; -66.640259833 0.1 km S of
Portugues Dam
6 Tibes
PR-10
 9.3 023261 Unnamed Both 18°2′53.268″N 66°37′30.8994″W / 18.04813000°N 66.625249833°W / 18.04813000; -66.625249833 Just
Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes
in Southern Barrio Tibes
7
Portugués Rural
PR-10
 6.9 026711 Unnamed Both 18°2′16.08″N 66°36′40.9314″W / 18.0378000°N 66.611369833°W / 18.0378000; -66.611369833 between
PR-504
8
Portugués Rural
PR-504
 0.1 022481 Unnamed Both 18°2′7.332″N 66°36′41.976″W / 18.03537000°N 66.61166000°W / 18.03537000; -66.61166000 0.1 km east of
Barrio Cantera
9 Machuelo Abajo
PR-14
 2.0 018521 Unnamed Both 18°1′11.244″N 66°36′26.1714″W / 18.01979000°N 66.607269833°W / 18.01979000; -66.607269833 PR-14 is aka Ave. Tito Castro in this area (aka, Ave. Betances)
10
Cantera
PR-14R
 1.7 022061 La Milagrosa Both 18°1′2.2794″N 66°36′25.3434″W / 18.017299833°N 66.607039833°W / 18.017299833; -66.607039833 PR-14 is aka Calle Guadalupe in this area
11
Tercero
 PR-1 126.9 019221 Los Leones Both 18°0′45.252″N 66°36′27.36″W / 18.01257000°N 66.6076000°W / 18.01257000; -66.6076000 0.5 km east of Plaza Las Delicias
12
San Antón
PR-133
 1.2 018561 Unnamed Both 18°0′29.304″N 66°36′23.652″W / 18.00814000°N 66.60657000°W / 18.00814000; -66.60657000 At Parque de la Ceiba
13
San Antón
 Calle Campos Street has no km markers 018021 Unnamed Both 18°0′18.6834″N 66°36′24.444″W / 18.005189833°N 66.60679000°W / 18.005189833; -66.60679000 At east end of Calle Campos, in comunidad Bélgica
14
San Anton
PR-163
 1.0 010852 Unnamed WB 18°0′10.8714″N 66°36′25.7754″W / 18.003019833°N 66.607159833°W / 18.003019833; -66.607159833 At
Hospital Dr. Pila
15
San Antón
PR-163
 1.0 010862 Unnamed EB 18°0′10.2954″N 66°36′25.884″W / 18.002859833°N 66.60719000°W / 18.002859833; -66.60719000 At
Hospital Dr. Pila
16
San Antón
PR-12
 3.6 018921 Unnamed Both 17°59′55.896″N 66°36′20.376″W / 17.99886000°N 66.60566000°W / 17.99886000; -66.60566000 Av. Santiago de los Caballeros/Av. Malecón, between Av. Las Américas and Ponce By-pass. PR-12 used to be signed PR-14 in this area
17
San Antón
 PR-2 229.0 015941 Unnamed Both 17°59′49.164″N 66°36′6.9474″W / 17.99699000°N 66.601929833°W / 17.99699000; -66.601929833
PR-12
18
San Antón
PR-52
 103.7 022691 Unnamed Both 17°59′8.3394″N 66°35′51.54″W / 17.985649833°N 66.5976500°W / 17.985649833; -66.5976500 Flows as
Río Bucaná
19
Playa
 Av. Caribe N/A N/A Unnamed Both 17°58′30.8274″N 66°35′56.1474″W / 17.975229833°N 66.598929833°W / 17.975229833; -66.598929833 Flows as
Río Bucaná
20
Playa
 PR-2 227.7 005841 Caracoles Both 17°59′45.8514″N 66°36′50.544″W / 17.996069833°N 66.61404000°W / 17.996069833; -66.61404000 Ponce By-pass, between
Av. Hostos and Plaza del Caribe
; This was part of the former course of the river
21
Playa
PR-123
 3.3 001451 Río Portugués Both 17°59′36.4914″N 66°36′54.9714″W / 17.993469833°N 66.615269833°W / 17.993469833; -66.615269833
Av. Hostos just south of Ponce By-pass
; This was part of the former course of the river
22
Playa
PR-585
 2.4 002751 Unnamed Both 17°58′58.512″N 66°37′23.9874″W / 17.98292000°N 66.623329833°W / 17.98292000; -66.623329833
Av. Padre Noel by Villa Pesquera
; This was part of the former course of the river
 

Former and current course

For flood control purposes, in the 1970s Río Portugués was diverted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers from emptying directly into the Caribbean Sea at Playa de Ponce to feeding into the Río Bucaná which then empties into the Caribbean Sea. This channelization project started in 1974[24] and was completed in 1997.[25] It was a multimillion-dollar investment, with just the first phase costing $120 million.[26]

Former course

The former course of Río Portugués, prior to being diverted and channelized by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the 1970s, followed from the area just north of

La Playa at Avenida Padre Noel before draining into the Caribbean Sea about 30 or 40 yards from Avenida Padre Noel, in the area called Villa Pesquera
.

Current course

Maraguez, heading South-bound. The Río Portugués canal is visible in the background as it empties into the Caribbean Sea
.

Once the U.S. Corps of Engineers canalized Río Portugués as it flowed through the city of Ponce, the Corps also diverted its course from a south-southwesterly course to a south-southeasterly course. This diversion started immediately south of the river's intersection with Avenida Las Américas.

From Avenida Las Américas the river now flows, channelized, in a south-southeasterly after crossing Avenida Las Américas about a quarter of a mile east of

Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park
on the park's western edge until, still canalized, it feeds into Bucaná River about half a mile south of PR-2. The point where Río Portugués feeds into Río Bucaná is about one quarter of a mile north of PR-52 (a.k.a., Autopista Luis A. Ferré) and can be seen from the southbound side of PR-52.

Bucaná River

After this point Río Portugués is no longer called Río Portugués. It becomes Río Bucaná (Bucaná River) and divides barrios

Bucaná on its eastern bank. From there the river continues flowing in southerly course as a single canalized river for half-mile, crossing Autopista Luis A. Ferré/PR-52. Another one mile (1.6 km) of southerly flow and the river empties as a single stream into the Caribbean Sea just east of La Guancha, safely avoiding most low-laying populated areas.[29]

Uses

Today Río Portugués is one of the most popular rivers for swimming in southern Puerto Rico.[30]

Portugués Dam

Main article: Portugués Dam
Artistic rendering of Portugues Dam

In 1986, the U.S. Congress approved funding to build the

Río Cerrillos was finished in 1992, and had also been approved by Congress in 1986. The cost to build the Portugués Dam is over $192 million.[34]

The dam will consist of a dike of 220 feet high by 1,230 feet wide. It will use 368,000 cubic yards of compressed concrete. As of 22 March 2009, 88 percent of the concrete work had been completed. Its scheduled completion date is 2013. The total investment is $375 million

USD.[35]

Preservation

In 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Foreman, owners of the Adjuntas property where Río Portugués originates, granted the development rights of their property in Adjuntas to the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, thereby establishing the first scenic and conservation easement in Puerto Rico. The deed of easement and its restrictive covenants protect a 40-acre (160,000 m2) tract of land that includes the headwaters of Río Portugués. Although the title to the land remains with the Foreman family, the easement restricts the use of the land, safeguarding its trees, vegetation, and other natural resources against destruction or alteration in perpetuity. Today, 42 acres (170,000 m2) of Río Portugués scenic easement in Adjuntas's humid forest are a protected entity of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.[36]

Archeological site

An important archeological finding, labeled "PO-29: Jácana", was made on the banks of the river. Artifacts were transferred to Jacksonville, Florida and then returned to a museum in Puerto Rico.[37][38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Other sources report lengths of 18.4 miles (29.6km) – (See, for example, HERE, Los Rios. Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. February 2007: P013. Page 3. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 27 November 2013.) and 16.1 miles (25.9km) – (See, for example, HERE, Informe Ecológico de Flora y Fauna, Proyecto Gasoducto del Sur: Peñuelas, Ponce, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Salinas. For: Proyecto Gasoducto del Sur - Peñuelas, Ponce, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Salinas. By: ENSR (Piscatway, NJ) – AEE (Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica). Page 19. Retrieved 26 November 2013.)
  2. ^ Another source names this early settler "Pedro Perdomo de Guzmán". It is not clear which of the two names is the correct name, or if his name was perhaps Pedro Rodriguez Perdomo de Guzmán or some other variation. See Historia de Nuestros Barrios: Portugués, Ponce. Rafael Torrech San Inocencio. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Elsuralavista.com. 14 February 2010.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Note that there are two "Barrio Portugues" wards, one in the municipality of Ponce and another in the municipality of Adjuntas. The river has its origin in the Barrio Portugues of the municipality of Adjuntas

References

  1. ^ Rios mas importantes de Puerto Rico. PRFrogui.
  2. ^ Maptest. Archived 18 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  3. ^ Los Rios. Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. February 2007: P013. Page 3. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  4. ^ Recursos de Agua de Puerto Rico. Ferdinand Quiñones. 2018. Page 3-7. Accessed 3 October 2018.
  5. ^ Los Rios. Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. February 2007: P013. Page 3. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  6. ^ Recursos de Agua de Puerto Rico. Ferdinand Quiñones. 2018. pp. 3–7. Accessed 3 October 2018.
  7. ^ Ferdinand Quiñones and Karl G. Johnson. The Floods of May 17–18, 1985 and October 6–7, 1985 in Puerto Rico. U.S. Geological Survey. Open File Report 87-123. Prepared in Conjunction with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, and the Puerto Rico Highway Authority. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1987. Page 15.
  8. ISBN 978-1547284931
  9. ^ Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Periodico "El Señorial". Special issue: Carnaval Ponceño 2013. February 2013. Page 17. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
  10. ^ National Bridge Inventory Data: Puerto Rico, Ponce. James Baughn. BridgeReports.com 2018. Accessed 7 March 2018.
  11. ^ Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Recursos Naturales. Ponce Ciudad Señorial. Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  12. ^ Sunny A. Cabrera Salcedo. Hacia un Estudio Integral de la Toponimia del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ph. D. dissertation. May 1999. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School. Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Page 49.
  13. ^ Ponce, Puerto Rico. Arecibo Web. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  14. ^ Las Fiestas Populares de Ponce y La Villa de Ponce. Ramon Marin. 1875. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta El Vapor. 72 pages. (Reprinted September 1994. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 281 pages. Page 187.) Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  15. ^ Los ríos y embalses de Adjuntas. Obed David Cintrón González.
  16. ^ Río Portugués. PRFrogui.
  17. ^ Ferdinand Quiñones and Karl G. Johnson. The Floods of May 17–18, 1985 and October 6–7, 1985 in Puerto Rico. U.S. Geological Survey. Open File Report 87-123. Prepared in Conjunction with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, and the Puerto Rico Highway Authority. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1987. Page 8.
  18. ^ Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Periodico "El Señorial". Special issue: Carnaval Ponceño 2013. February 2013. Page 17. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
  19. ^ Estudios Sociales. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Hidrografia. Projecto Salon Hogar. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  20. ^ Ponce, Puerto Rico. Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Jorge A. Figueroa Irizarry, Director. Ponce History Museum. Released by Professor F. Suarez. Pontificial Catholic University of Puerto Rico. Page 25.
  21. ^ PRFROFUI. RÍOS MAS IMPORTANTES DE PUERTO RICO.
  22. ^ National Bridge Inventory Data: Puerto Rico, Ponce. James Baughn. BridgeReports.com 2018. Accessed 25 November 2018.
  23. ^ Camino Soñadora Bridge, Barrio San Patricio, Ponce, Puerto Rico, at OpenStreetMap.
  24. ^ Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 118.
  25. ^ Proyecto de año: Represa Portugues, Construccion con Ingenieria Extrema. Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Planos y Capacets. May–Jun 2011. Page 10. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  26. ^ Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 118.
  27. ^ Inauguran la nueva Represa Portugues en Ponce. Antonio R. Gómez. Primera Hora. 5 February 2014. Accessed 21 November 2018.
  28. ^ Inauguran la Represa Portugués en Ponce: La nueva estructura protegerá a 40,000 residentes contra inundaciones. El Nuevo Dia. 5 February 2014. Accessed 21 November 2018.
  29. ^ Surface-Water, Water-Quality, and Ground Water Assessment of the Municipio of Ponce, Puerto Rico, 2002-2004. Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez, Luis Santiago-Rivera, José M. Rodríguez, and Fernando Gómez-Gómez. Scientific Investigations Report No. 2005-5243. United States Geological Survey. Page 81.
  30. ^ Recreación para todos sin salir de Ponce. Sandra Torres Guzmán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 18 June 2014. Page 26. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  31. ^ Gobernador resalta su gestión en el Sur. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  32. ^ Dam over Río Portugués Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  33. ^ Portugues Dam. Oficinas Comerciales. Spain.
  34. ^ Gobernador resalta su gestión en el Sur. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  35. ^ No se detiene la Represa Portugués. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  36. ^ Hacienda Buena Vista. Río Portugués. Fideicomisio de Puerto Rico.
  37. ^ "La colección arqueológica de Jácanas: estableciendo los hecho[1]". [IN]Genios (in Spanish). 13 April 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  38. ^ Espenshade, Chris (3 August 2015). "The Cultural Landscape of Jacana: Investigations of Site PO-29, Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico". Academia.edu. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

External links

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