The La Plata River () is the longest river in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It is located in the north coast of the island. It flows from south to north, and drains into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

about west of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. The mouth of the river is a resort area with white sandy beaches. La Plata has a length of approximately with its origin in the municipality of

Guayama, Puerto Rico Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama (), is a Guayama barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, at an altitude of approximately above sea level. It crosses the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama (), is a Guayama barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north east of Salinas and north of Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east o ...

, Comerío, Naranjito, Toa Alta,

Toa Baja Toa Baja () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over five barrios, including Toa Baja Pueblo (the downtown area and ...

, and

Dorado Dorado (, ) is a constellation in the Southern Sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the mahi-mahi (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' ("golden") in Sp ...

forming two lakes in its path: Carite Lake and La Plata Lake. There are many crossings of the river. The

Arenas Bridge The Arenas Bridge is a truss bridge built in 1894 between the municipalities of Cayey, Puerto Rico, Cayey and Cidra, Puerto Rico, Cidra in Puerto Rico. Also known as Puente Rio La Plata, it was the longest bridge constructed in Puerto Rico duri ...

, in Cayey, is one of the most notable. It is a steel bridge built in 1894 and is still in use. It was the longest bridge built in Puerto Rico by the Spanish. Another notable bridge that passes over the river is the

Jesús Izcoa Moure bridge The Jesús Izcoa Moure Bridge ''(Officially: Puente Atirantado de Naranjito, Jesús Izcoa Moure'') is a Cable-stayed bridge that connects the cities of Toa Alta and Naranjito, in Puerto Rico by the Puerto Rico Highway 5. It was named after J ...

, a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

which straddles the city borders of Naranjito, Toa Alta and Bayamon. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Army Corps of Engineers is undertaking a major

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

project in the river basin.

History

It is popularly said that

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

Indians referred to the river as ''"thoa"'' which means

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

, which itself gave the name to the towns of Toa Alta and

located in the mouth of the river to the

Cultural references

The river is referenced on the

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

of the town of Toa Baja.

Hurricane Maria

The river, which runs through the heart of Comerio, rose more than on September 20, 2017 (

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

) causing major flooding and irreparable destruction to areas along the river. It destroyed the school, the police station, countless homes and businesses in Comerio, and other municipalities along the river.

Flood control project

In mid 2018, the

Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be undertaking a major

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

control project of the river basin, with a $500 million budget. By mid 2019, a project by the USACE to mitigate the flooding risk to Toa Baja by The Plata River had not yet begun.

Gallery

Ohio National Guard (37725039486).jpg, Dam at Río de la Plata in Comerío Calle Méndez Vigo in Dorado, Puerto Rico 14.jpg, Bridge on Calle Méndez Vigo over Río de la Plata in Dorado Río de la Plata from Calle Méndez Vigo in Dorado, Puerto Rico.jpg, Río de la Plata from Bridge on Calle Méndez Vigo in Dorado View from bridge on Calle Méndez Vigo in Dorado, Puerto Rico.jpg, View of river from bridge on Calle Méndez Vigo in Dorado

References

External links

USGS Hydrologic Unit Map – Caribbean Region (1974)

- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers {{DEFAULTSORT:Plata (Puerto Rico), Rio De La Rivers of Puerto Rico Cayey, Puerto Rico Guayama metropolitan area