| Portugués | |
|---|---|
Río Portugues in Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking north from Puente de los Leones at Miguel Pou Boulevard (PR-1) |
|
| Origin | Barrio Portugues, Adjuntas, Puerto Rico |
| Mouth | Rio Bucana |
| Progression | Guaraguao San Patricio Tibes Portugués Machuelo Arriba Sexto Quinto Tercero Cuarto San Antón Bucaná |
| Basin countries | Puerto Rico |
| Location | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Length | 18.43 miles (29.66 km)[1] |
| Source elevation | 2,853 feet (870 m)[2] |
| Mouth elevation | 3 feet (0.91 m)[3] |
| Avg. discharge | 16,000 cu ft/s[4] |
| Basin area | 20.33 sq. mi[5] |
| Right tributaries | Río Chiquito Rio Corcho (Adjuntas) |
Río Portugués (Portugués River), also known as Río Tibes,[6] is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The river has a length of almost 30 kilometers (19 mi) and runs south from the Cordillera Central mountain range into the Caribbean Sea. The Portugues is one of the best-known rivers in Ponce because of its prominent zig-zagging through the city and its historical significance.[7] The river is historically significant because the city of Ponce had its origins on its banks. Its old name was Río Baramaya.[8] The river has its mouth at 17°58'51" North, 66°37'26" West. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.
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Río Portugués has its origin in Cerro Guilarte,[9] located the western part of barrio Portugués in the bordering municipality of Adjuntas,[10] just north of Ponce, and drains into the Caribbean Sea after running for some 27.6 kilometers (17.1 mi).[11] The river has a discharge of 16,000 cubic feet per second.[12]
One of the rivers Rio Portugues feeds from is Río Chiquito.[13] 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 Portugues in the sectors known as Cedro, Nuez, Moscada and Tibes.[14]
Starting off at its origin in Barrio Portugues, Adjuntas, Río Portugués, as it is known locally, begins to form at an altitude of approximately 2,853 feet (870 m) above sea level.[15] The river then runs in a southernly direction parallel to PR-10 for most of its trajectory, crossing barrios Guaraguao, San Patricio, and Tibes. It brushes barrio Machuelo Arriba on its southwestern corner after it crosses PR-10 just west of the intersection of PR-10 and PR-504, just north of the Ponce city limits. From there it enters barrio Machuelo Abajo and continues south crossing Avenida Betances/Avenida Tito Castro (PR-14), at a point about half a mile west of the intersection of routes PR-12 and PR-14. A few hundred feet before the Avenida Betances Río Portugues bridge, in the city of Ponce, the river divides barrios Sexto, located west of the river, and Machuelo Abajo, to the east. It continues south crossing Calle Guadalupe, at which point it divides barrio Quinto to the west and Machuelo Abajo to the east. This point is just west of Club Deportivo de Ponce. Several hundred feet further downstream, at Miguel Pou Boulevard–PR-1 and Puentes de los Leones–Tricentennial Park, the river divides barrios Tercero and San Anton. Further downstream, the river comes to pass by La Ceiba Park on Calle Comercio (route PR-133) in sector Cuatro Calles. After crossing Calle Comercio, the river divides barrios Cuarto and San Anton, and continues its southernly course towards Avenida Las Americas (PR-163).
For flood control purposes, Rio Portugues was diverted in the 1970s by the U.S. Corps of Engineers from emptying directly into the Caribbean Sea to feed into the Rio Bucana which then empties into the Caribbean Sea.
The old course of the river, prior to being diverted and channelized by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the 1970s, flowed from the area just north of Avenida Las Americas/PR-163 in a south-southwesterly manner crossing Avenida Las Americas immediately east of Hospital Dr. Pila. It then continued south behind the Governmental Center/State Police headquarters, and followed a trajectory almost parallel to Avenida Hostos. It then crossed PR-2 immediately east of the intersection of Avenida Hostos and Ponce Bypass/PR-2, at the sector called "Caracoles". From there the river used to continue flowing southernly, at one point just edging Plaza del Caribe. This old course then took a sharp westernly turn to cross Avenida Hostos. From this point it continued flowing south-southwesternly where it (now, since the newly built PR-52) crossed PR-52. From here the river flowed another one mile (1.6 km) crossing the low-lying area of Barrio 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."
Once the U.S. Corps of Engineers channalized Rio Portugues 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 Americas.
From Avenida Las Americas the river now flows in a south-southeasterly after crossing Avenida Las Americas about a quarter of a mile east of Hospital Dr. Pila. After crossing Avenida Las Americas in downtown Ponce, the river comes to the location where in the 1970s it was diverted by the US Corps of Engineers from a southwesterly path to its current southeasterly path. Taking a sharp easterly turn, it enters barrio San Anton, and crosses north-and-south-bound route PR-12/Avenida Malecon about one quarter of a mile north of PR-12's intersection with PR-2. Shortly thereafter the river crosses east-and-west-bound route PR-2, about one quarter of a mile east of PR-2's intersection with PR-12. The river then borders the Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park on the park's western edge until it feeds into Río Bucaná about half a mile south of PR-2.
After this point Rio Portugues becomes Rio Bucana and divides barrios Playa (Ponce) on its western bank and barrio Bucana on its eastern bank. From there the rivers flow southernly as a single stream for half-mile, crossing Autopista Luis A. Ferre/PR-52. Another one mile (1.6 km) of southernly flow and the river empties as a single stream into the Caribbean Sea just east of La Guancha, safely avoiding most populated areas.[16]
In 1986 Congress approved funding to build the Portugues Dam for Río Portugues about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Ponce. Construction began in April 2008[17] and, when finished, the dam will be the first roller-compacted concrete thick arch dam built anywhere in U.S. soil by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[18][19] The Cerrillos Dam over Río Cerrillos was finished in 1992, and had also been approved by Congress in 1986. The cost to built the Portugues Dam is over $192 million.[20]
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 completion date is 2013. The total investment is $375 million USD.[21]
In 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Foreman, owners of the Adjuntas property where the Portugues River 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 Portugues scenic easement in Adjuntas's humid forest are a protected entity of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.[22]
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Portugués</ref>}}