Puclaro is an artificial

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

created by a dam on the

Elqui River The Elqui River starts in the west Andes and flows into the Pacific Ocean near the Chilean city of La Serena. It is a wine and pisco producing area. Vicuña, the main town of the middle valley, was the home of Nobel Laureate poet Gabriela Mistral ...

, 40 km east of the city of La Serena,

Coquimbo Region The Coquimbo Region ( es, Región de Coquimbo, ) is one of Chile's 16 regions (first order administrative divisions). It is bordered by Atacama to the north, Valparaíso to the south, Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and 500 km north of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. Regular strong winds make the lake a popular place for

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

.surfspot.de: Spotinfos Puclaro (Chile)
Its purpose is to improve the irrigation of 21,000 ha of farmland in the Elqui valley.

Dam

Puclaro Dam is an 83 m tall and 640 m long concrete face gravel fill dam with a crest altitude of 435 m. The volume of the dam is 4,630,000 m³. The dam features a

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

over the dam (maximum discharge 3,800 m³/s). The upstream concrete face varies in thickness from 0.45 m to 0.30 m. Puclaro dam is founded on very pervious alluvial foundations more than 100 m deep.

External links

Gualliguaica - The Drowning Town

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puclaro Dam Dams in Chile Irrigation in Chile Reservoirs in Chile Lakes of Coquimbo Region