Puneet Varma (Editor)

Cañas River (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

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Location
  
Ponce

Source
  
Guaraguao

River system
  
Río Matilde

Length
  
14 km

Country
  
Puerto Rico

Cañas River (Ponce, Puerto Rico) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Main source
  
Cerro Avispa, Barrio Guaraguao 930 feet (280 m)

River mouth
  
Rio Matilde 15 feet (4.6 m)

Progression
  
Guaraguao Magueyes Magueyes Urbano Canas Urbano

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. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.

Contents

Map of R%C3%ADo Ca%C3%B1as, Ponce, Puerto Rico

OriginEdit

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

CourseEdit

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.

The Government of Puerto Rico plans to canalize this river.

Surrounding geologyEdit

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

Fish lifeEdit

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.

References

Cañas River (Ponce, Puerto Rico) Wikipedia