The Álvaro Obregón Dam (''also known as the'' Oviáchic Dam) is an

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

on the

Yaqui River The Yaqui River (Río Yaqui in Spanish) (Hiak Vatwe in the Yaqui or Yoreme language) is a river in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It was formerly known as the Rio del Norte. Being the largest river system in the state of Sonora, th ...

north of

Ciudad Obregón Ciudad Obregón is a city in southern Sonora. It is the state's second largest city after Hermosillo and serves as the municipal seat of Cajeme. As of 2020, the city has a population of 436,484. Ciudad Obregón is south of the country's U.S.� ...

, in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The purpose of the dam is water supply for irrigation, flood control and

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power production. The dam supports a power station with two generators and a 19 MW installed capacity.

Background

Because of drought, the Álvaro Obregón Dam and others on the Sonora and Mayo Rivers were constructed in the 1940s and 1950s. Construction on the Álvaro Obregón Dam began in 1947 and was complete in 1952. The dam's power station was not operational until August 1957. The dam is above the riverbed and long. The dam has an additional saddle dam to its northwest and along with a system of canals, it helps irrigate 83% of a area. Because of drought in the 1990s and 2000s, 2004 was the first year that water from the dam's reservoir was not authorized for irrigation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvaro Obregon Dam Dams in Mexico Hydroelectric power stations in Mexico Embankment dams Dams completed in 1952

Background

See also

References