Cañas River (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Cañas River, also known as Río Cañas (English: Canas River), is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Río Magueyes in the area where it flows through Barrio Magueyes, also in the municipality of Ponce.[6] This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.

"Río Cañas" redirects here. For other uses, see Río Cañas (disambiguation).

Cañas River
Cañas River in Ponce, Puerto Rico, crossing through Hacienda Buena Vista
Location
CommonwealthPuerto Rico
MunicipalityPonce
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationCerro Avispa, Barrio Guaraguao
 • coordinates18.0019106°N 66.6404508°W / 18.0019106; -66.6404508[1]
 • elevation930 feet (280 m)[3]
Mouth 
 • location
Rio Matilde
 • elevation
15 feet (4.6 m)[4]
Length14 km (8.7 mi)[5]
Basin features
ProgressionGuaraguao
Magueyes
Magueyes Urbano
Canas Urbano
River systemRío Matilde
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

Origin

The river originates in Cerro Avispa, located in Barrio Guaraguao, near Guaraguao's boundary with the municipality of Adjuntas,[7] 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.[8]

Course

The river runs in a southerly 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 Baramaya behind Urbanizacion Río Cañas, to become Río Matilde. Less than one mile further south Río Matilde empties into the Caribbean Sea at barrio Playa.[9]

The Government of Puerto Rico plans to canalize this river.[10]

The following table summarizes the course of Rio Canas in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in Cerro Avispa, in Barrio Guaraguao, north of the city of Ponce, until the river feeds into Rio Matilde in Barrio Canas in the south (N/A = Data not available):

No.BarrioRoadRoad's
km marker		NBI ID[11]Bridge name
(if any)		Direction
(of bridge traffic)		CoordinatesNotes
1GuaraguaoCamino Santas Pascuas (aka, PR-516)not markedN/AOff PR-123, km 20.4*Both18°7′25.824″N 66°40′21.6114″W0.4 km west of PR-123 on Camino Santas Pascuas (PR-516)
2GuaraguaoPR-501R0.3*13971UnnamedBoth18°6′27.396″N 66°39′48.7074″W8 km northeast of Peñuelas
3GuaraguaoCamino Las Lomasnot markedN/AOff PR-123, km 20.0*Both18°5′57.5874″N 66°39′40.284″W0.5 km north of Iglesia San Andres
4MagueyesCamino Pasaje Grillasca, Carr. Sto. Domingonot markedN/AOff PR-123, km 16.3*Both18°4′48.144″N 66°39′13.8954″W0.1 km north of Iglesia Bautista Corral Viejo; 0.5 km south of Hacienda Buena Vista (PR-123, km 16.8)
5MagueyesFinca El Huerto Penielnot markedN/AOff PR-123, km 14.3Both18°4′19.056″N 66°39′5.652″W
6MagueyesPR-5010.04891UnnamedBoth18°2′18.096″N 66°38′43.6194″WEntrance to Parcelas Magueyes; 2 km north of Ponce
7Magueyes UrbanoAvenida Ponce de Leonnot marked21281UnnamedBoth18°1′52.752″N 66°38′30.7314″W0.1 km west of PR-123, at entrance to Urb. Las Delicias
8Canas UrbanoPR-13225.213731UnnamedBoth18°0′41.112″N 66°38′25.2234″WEntrance to Jardines del Caribe
9Canas UrbanoPR-5000.523211San AntonioBoth18°0′29.1954″N 66°38′25.188″WAt Avenida Las Americas (2 km west of Ponce)
 

*Marker requires field verification.

Surrounding geology

The southern end of Río Cañas is known to be surrounded by significant amounts of limestone.[12] This area made the ideal place for the location of a cement factory, and Ponce Cement was built near Río Cañas.

Fish life

In 2008, a study was made to determine fish life in Rio Cañas. The study found that at 5.6 km NNW of Ponce the river runs at an elevation of 220.8m; at 5.0 km NNW of Ponce it runs at an elevation of 164.2m; at 3.1 km NW of Ponce it runs at an elevation of 57.7m; and at 2.0 km NW of Ponce it runs at an elevation of 30.0m.[13]

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Cañas
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Cañas
  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. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Recursos Naturales: Río Canas o Magueyes. Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Ciudad Señorial. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  7. Recursos Naturales: Río Canas o Magueyes. Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Ciudad Señorial. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  8. Puerto Rico Tourism Company Archived 2009-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Recursos Naturales. Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  10. 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.
  11. National Bridge Inventory Data: Puerto Rico, Ponce. James Baughn. BridgeReports.com 2018. Accessed 25 November 2018.
  12. 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.]
  13. 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.
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