Poechos Reservoir is a middle-sized reservoir on Peru's
Chira River
Chira River or Rio Chira is the name of a river (as well as valley) in northern Peru whose mouth is 100 km north west of the provincial capital of Piura and 25 km north of the port of Paita.
Its source is in the Ecuadorian Andes near th ...
in the border area between
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
.
Its purpose is to improve the accumulation of water stocks in the upper part of Peru's Chira basin by
flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
,
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
,
drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...
and
electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its s ...
.
Location
The Poechos Reservoir is situated in the northernmost part of Peru, in the lower flow of the rivers Chira and Piura, about 50 km north of
Piura, the capital of the
Piura Region.
It is located on 4° 3' southern latitude and 80° 2' western longitude at an altitude of 98 m in the
Lancones district of the province of
Sullana, approximately 30 km from the border with Ecuador.
History
The system was built in support of
agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...
and infrastructure policies led by the military dictatorship of
Juan Velasco Alvarado. Construction was carried out in four phases, the first of which was constructed by Yugoslav contractor
Energoprojekt and supervised by the Peruvian subsidiary of British company
Binnie & Partners
Binnie is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
__NOTOC__
Surname
* Alex Binnie (footballer), Scottish footballer of the 1920s
* Alex Binnie (tattoo artist) (born 1959), English tattooist and printmaker
* Alexander ...
. Works started on 24 June 1972, with inauguration taking place on 4 June 1976.
[{{Cite web, url=http://www.energoprojekt-ng.rs/es/referencias/presas-y-centrales-hidrelectricas/la-presa-poechos-peru, title = "Poechos", Perú]
Phases of the project go as follow:
Phase 1 (1970 to 1977)
The first phase included the construction of
*the rock filled Poechos dam (9 km long with a maximum height of about 55 m and a total excavation volume of 9,000,000 m
3;
*the diversion tunnel built into the bottom outlet with a maximum capacity of 14 m
3/s;
*the concrete gravitational block of the overflow structure (400,000 m
3 concrete) with radial gates with a total capacity up to , 500 m
3/s;
*the safety overflow of circa 200 m length with a capacity up to 10,000 m
3/s;
*the headwater discharge and the headwater channel with a capacity of 70 m
3/s (8,00,000 m
3 excavation and 1,000,000 m
3 of concrete for channel lining);
*the channel drainage system in the lower Chira (10,000,000 m
3 excavation in total) flows through over 1,000 structures on the channel network (overflows, outlets, gates, etc.)
Phase 2 (1978 to 1985)
The second phase covered
*the headwater dam ''Los Ejedos'' which is 220 m long with a maximum height of 20 m and a gate capacity of 3,000 m
3/s;
*the main channel, which is 42 km long and has a capacity of 45 m
3/s;
*the protecting embankments (60 km long) along the Piura;
*the channel system with supporting structures over an area of 350 km
2.
Phase 3 (1985 to 1997)
The third phase consisted of
*the headwater dam ''Sullana'' which is 75 m long, has a maximum height of 12 m and has gates with a total capacity of up to 5,000 m
3/s;
*the headwater channel ''Norte'' with a capacity of 25,500 m
3/s over 56 km which irrigate 150 km
2;
*the channel ''Sur'' which is circa 35 km long with a capacity of 7 m
3/s for irrigation of about 70 km
2 (in total about 5,000,000 m
3 excavation);
*about 60 km of dykes along the regulated river bed in the lower Chira flow (about 5,500,000 m
3 of embankment).
Phase 4 (2002 to 2004)
The final phase included
*the 12.5 MW Curumuy dam and power plant, completed in 2000;
*the 15.4 MW Poechos I Hydroelectric Project which was completed in 2004.
Capacities
The capacity of the reservoir is 1,000,000,000 m
3, its catchment area 14,000 m
2, its maximum depth 46 m.
The irrigation dam is 49 m high and 9 km wide at crest and at its bottom has a conduit to discharge water at a rate of 4 m
3/s.
The original design brief was to revitalise the Piura valley, which was short of water, and provide modern irrigation for approximately 350 km
2 of arable land.
The Poechos I Hydroelectric Plant is operated by
Sindicato Energético S.A (
SINERSA). The Poechos I power house has 15.4
MW in installed capacity and generates 60
GW·h
A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...
annually for
Electronoroeste, the concessionary for energy distribution in northwestern Peru. The power plant is to accomplish a 90% national electrification level of the country by the year 2010 by using a zero emission energy source.
References
External links
UNFCCC Project 0086: PoechosChira-Piura Water Management System, Peru
Reservoirs in Peru
Buildings and structures in Piura Region