Cañas River (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Canas River

Canas River in Ponce, Puerto Rico, crossing through Hacienda Buena Vista
Country Puerto Rico
Location Ponce
Basin
Main source Cerro Avispa, Barrio Guaraguao
930 feet (280 m)[1]
River mouth Rio Matilde
15 feet (4.6 m)[2]
Progression Guaraguao
Magueyes
Magueyes Urbano
Canas Urbano
River system Río Matilde
Physical characteristics
Length 14 km (8.7 mi)[3]
Map showing the location of Río Cañas among the other rivers in the municipality. The area in pink represents the urban zone of the city

Cañas River, also known as Río Canas (English: Canas River), is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Río Magueyes in the area of barrio Magueyes in the municipality of Ponce.[4] This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.

Origin

The river originates in Cerro Avispa, located in Barrio Guaraguao, near Guaraguao's boundary with the municipality of Adjuntas[5] and runs south towards the Caribbean Sea. The old Hacienda Buena Vista plantation in barrio Magueyes, now a coffee mill museum, used the force of Cañas River in the early 20th century to turn its coffee bean grinders via an elaborate system of water channels.[6]

Course

The river runs in a southernly direction parallel to Puerto Rico route PR-123, the old road from Adjuntas to Ponce. Continuing south and running parallel to Route 123, the river enters the city of Ponce in the area of barrio Magueyes Urbano (the urban zone of barrio Magueyes) before approaching PR-132, the country road from Ponce to Peñuelas. This area of PR-132 is known as Calle Villa Final, and the river crosses Calle Villa Final immediately east of the entrance to Urbanizacion Jardines del Caribe from Calle Villa Final. The river then runs parallel to Jardines del Caribe's East Main Street, and crosses Avenida Las Americas (PR-163), next to the intersection of PR-163 and PR-500. Continuing south, Río Cañas merges with Río Pastillo, as it approaches Calle Barayama behind Urbanizacion Río Cañas, to become Río Matilde. Less than one mile further south Río Matilde empties into the Caribbean Sea at barrio Playa.[7]

The Government of Puerto Rico plans to canalize this river.[8]

Surrounding geology

The southern end of Río Canas is known to be surrounded by significant amounts of limestone.[9] This area made the ideal place for the location of a cement factory, and Ponce Cement was built near Río Canas.

Fish life

In 2008, a study was made to determine fish life in Canas River. The study found that at 5.6 km NNW of Ponce the river runs at an altituide of 220.8m; at 5.0 km NNW of Ponce it runs at an altitude of 164.2m; at 3.1 km NW of Ponce it runs at an altitude of 57.7m; and at 2.0 km NW of Ponce it runs at an altitude of 30.0m.[10]

See also

Coordinates: 18°00′07″N 66°38′26″W / 18.0019106°N 66.6404508°W / 18.0019106; -66.6404508[11]

References

  1. ↑ Maptest. Archived February 18, 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.
  2. ↑ Maptest. Archived February 18, 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. ↑ Maptest. Archived February 18, 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.
  4. ↑ Recursos Naturales: Río Canas o Magueyes. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Ciudad Señorial. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Recursos Naturales: Río Canas o Magueyes. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Ciudad Señorial. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Puerto Rico Tourism Company
  7. ↑ Recursos Naturales. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Ponce en Marcha: Obras que si se ven. Government of Puerto Rico. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2 November 2011. Page 56.
  9. ↑ 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 4.]
  10. ↑ Sampling Bias, Selectivity, and Environmental Influences of Puerto Rico Stream Fishes: A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. Christian Hambrick Brown. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. 2008.
  11. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Cañas
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