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Sedimentation Survey of Lago La Plata, Puerto Rico, July 2006

By Luis R. Soler-López

Prepared in cooperation with the
PUERTO RICO AQUEDUCT AND SEWER AUTHORITY

ONLINE ONLY

ABSTRACT

Lago La Plata dam is located between the municipalities of Naranjito and Toa Alta in north central Puerto Rico, about 5 kilometers south of the town of Toa Alta and about 5 kilometers north of the town of Naranjito.

The reservoir impounds the waters of the Río de La Plata, the Río Guadiana, and the Río Cañas, and is part of the San Juan Metropolitan Water District, which provides about 35 percent of the total water demand for the area (Soler-López and others, 2000). The reservoir has a drainage area of about 469 square kilometers. The dam was constructed in 1974 and is a concrete gravity structure with a normal pool elevation of 52.00 meters above mean sea level (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, 1979).

During October 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Caribbean Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) conducted a bathymetric survey of Lago La Plata to assess the impact of Hurricane Georges on the storage capacity of the reservoir. Between July 17 and 20, 2006, the USGS and the PRASA conducted an additional bathymetric survey of Lago La Plata to update the reservoir storage capacity and determine the reservoir sedimentation rate by comparing the 2006 survey data with the 1998 survey data..

The purpose of this report is to update the reservoir storage capacity, sedimentation rates, and areas of substantial sediment accumulation since 1998. Historical (1974) data are referenced as needed to account for long-term storage capacity loss trends...

Available Products

Sedimentation Survey of Lago La Plata, Puerto Rico, July 2006:

Download SIM 2008-3021 (2.19 MB)

This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

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Soler-López, L.R., 2008, Sedimentation Survey of Lago La Plata, Puerto Rico, July 2006: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2008-3021, 1 sheet.

Please visit http://pr.water.usgs.gov/ for more information about USGS activities in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).