Quebrada de Ullúm Dam

Ullúm Dam

Spillway and reservoir
Location of Ullúm Dam
Official name Quebrada de Ullúm Dam
Country Argentina
Location San Juan, Ullúm Department, Province of San Juan
Coordinates 31°28′29.17″S 68°38′59.30″W / 31.4747694°S 68.6498056°WCoordinates: 31°28′29.17″S 68°38′59.30″W / 31.4747694°S 68.6498056°W
Purpose Power, water supply
Status Operational
Construction began 1969
Opening date 1980
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Embankment, earth and rock-fill
Impounds San Juan River
Height 53 m (174 ft)
Length 300 m (980 ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity 440,000,000 m3 (360,000 acre·ft)
Surface area 32 km2 (12 sq mi)
Power station
Commission date 1981
Turbines 1 x 45 MW Kaplan-type
Installed capacity 45 MW

The Quebrada de Ullúm Dam, or simply Ullúm Dam, is an embankment dam on the San Juan River, just west of San Juan in Ullúm Department of the Province of San Juan, Argentina. It is located at the gorge of the Quebrada de Ullum, 18 kilometres (11 mi) upstream from the provincial capital San Juan, and creates a reservoir with an area of 32 square kilometres (12 sq mi), a volume of 440 million cubic metres (16×109 cu ft), and average and maximum depths of 15 and 40 metres (49 and 131 ft), respectively. The reservoir feeds a hydroelectric power station with an installed power capacity of 45 megawatts (60,000 hp).[1]

The region is arid, with mean annual rainfall below 85 millimetres (3.3 in), and is traversed by the rivers San Juan and Jáchal. The dam is employed to regulate the flow to irrigate about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi) of the Tulum Valley for agriculture, which is the basis of the economy of San Juan. It also allows for recreational and tourist activities.

Work on the dam began in 1969, and the facility was inaugurated on December 3, 1980.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ullum Dam.
  1. ↑ "Hydroelectric power plants" (PDF). Panedile. Retrieved 19 May 2014.