Chingaza Dam is a large dam in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

which supplies water to the capital city of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. The dam, on the Guatiquia River, is in the Chingaza National Park, northeast of Bogotá. The dam is gravel fill with a concrete face. Behind the dam, the Chuza Reservoir holds .

Etymology

The name Chingaza comes from

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

and means "middle of the width".

History of conflict

In January 2002, rebels of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

(FARC) damaged the dam in an act of terrorism by placing an explosive on a gate valve in one of the dam's tunnels.

References

{{reflist Dams in Colombia Dams completed in 1983 Buildings and structures in Cundinamarca Department