Bucaná River ( es, Río Bucaná) is a river in the municipality of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. Río Bucaná has its origin in barrio

Machuelo Arriba Machuelo Arriba is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with the barrios of Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, and Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba is one of the municipality's seven rural in ...

where it forms at an altitude of . It forms from the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

Río Cerrillos Cerrillos River (Spanish: Río Cerrillos) is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Río Cerrillos has its origin in barrio Anón and runs south until it feeds into Bucaná River. Río Cerrillos is commonly known by the locals as ...

and

Río Bayagán Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. It is also fed by Río Portugues during its southernly run. Río Bucaná used to run for some Projecto Salon Hogar (Estudios Sociales, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Hidrografia).
Retrieved 30 October 2011. prior to canalization and other diversion work by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. It now runs for to drain into the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

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

Tributaries

Río Bucaná is formed in barrio

by the confluence of the Bayagán and Cerrillos rivers. It has two tributaries, Río Portugues and

Course

Río Bucaná originates in Cordillera Central at

Monte Jayuya Monte Jayuya is the second highest peak of Puerto Rico measuring above sea level. The mountain is located in the Cordillera Central, on the border between the municipalities of Jayuya ( Barrio Saliente) and Ponce (Barrio Anón). The peak is l ...

and runs in a winding fashion to the south receiving feeds from Rio Jauca,

Rio Bayagan Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and Quebrada Guayo. Río Bucaná is channelized from the point it enters the city of Ponce and until it is fed by

Rio Portugues Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

(a river that is also channelized) in Barrio

Bucaná Bucaná is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Canas, Playa, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Bucaná is one of the municipality's five coastal barrios. The name of this barrio is of native Indian origin. It ...

at the southern tip of

Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas (English: ''Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park'') is Puerto Rico's largest passive park.La Guancha Guancha is a Chinese news site founded by Eric X. Li. Guancha or La Guancha may also refer to: * ''Clathrina'', a genus of sponges also known as ''Guancha'' * La Guancha, Tenerife, a municipality in Tenerife, Canary Islands * Complejo Recreativo ...

. A section of the river used to run alongside Route 14, near the former Hospital de Distrito (now

Hospital San Lucas A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

), but it has since been diverted. The following table summarizes the course of Río Bucaná in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin at the confluence of

and

rivers, located in

Barrio Machuelo Arriba Machuelo Arriba is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with the barrios of Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, and Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba is one of the municipality's seven rural inter ...

, north of the city of Ponce, to its emptying into the Caribbean Sea in

Barrio Bucaná ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means "quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, arch ...

in the south (N/A = Data not available):

Uses

Río Bucaná is largely used for irrigation of crops on the southern plains of Puerto Rico located east of the city of Ponce.

Notes

:1.One reliable source, (Puerto Rico Department of Environmental Resources) dated February 2007, states that this river forms from the confluence of

and

. However, another reliable source, (Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget)''Maptest.''
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. not dated but using data with dates that fluctuate between 2001 and 2010, shows the river forms from various minor streams, and that Río Cerrillos is a feeder river to Río Bucaná. In this article we are using the first source as the most reliable. Still, given that the U.S. Corps of Engineers has been working in redirecting and canalizing Río Bucaná, the reader is advised that the actual origin of the ''current'' river may be one of the two stated above or may well be different yet.

References

External links

USGS Hydrologic Unit Map – Caribbean Region (1974)

USGS Maps of Municipality of Ponce Rivers, showing Rio Bucana and others
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucana, Rio Rivers of Puerto Rico Rivers of Ponce, Puerto Rico