Chiquito River ( es, Río Chiquito) is a river in the municipality of Ponce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. This river feeds into

Río Portugués Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

in the sector called Parras, about north of the intersection of

PR-504 Puerto Rico Highway 504 (PR-504) is a tertiary state''¿Un ...

and PR-505. It has its origin in the mountains west of

Montes Llanos Montes Llanos (also spelled Monte Llano), is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, and Cerrillos, Montes Llanos is one of the municipality's seven ...

. Río Chiquito is fed by Quebrada del Pastillo. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality of Ponce.

Origin

Río Chiquito has its origin in barrio

at an altitude of . It forms in the area north of Camino Paseo del Río and west of Camino Paseo Panorámico II, in south central Montes Llanos, about half kilometer west of PR-505, and approximately north of the northern terminus of

PR-504 Puerto Rico Highway 504 (PR-504) is a tertiary state''¿Un ...

Course

Río Chiquito runs from south central barrio Montes Llanos into north central barrio Portugués dividing barrio Portugués lengthwise from north to south into essentially two equal halves. It crosses several times the east-to-west Camino La Cuchilla Road as it continues southward. After this, the river is found next to the western edge of

PR-588 Puerto Rico Highway 588 (PR-588) is a tertiary mountainous state highway in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The road is approximately 1.5 kilometers long and is a spur of Puerto Rico Highway 504. Route description At its southern terminus, the road starts ...

, also known as Camino Río Chiquito, until PR-588 comes to its southern terminus where it meets PR-504. From this point onward Río Chiquito runs southward along the western edge of PR-504 for approximately until it crosses PR-504 eastward. The following table summarizes the course of Río Chiquito in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in the mountains of

, north of the city of Ponce, to its feeding into

Barrio Portugués ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means "quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, arch ...

(N/A = Data not available):

Former and current course

For flood control purposes, Río Chiquito was diverted by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

so that it would merge with Río Portugués about further north from its original natural merge, this merging them in a less populated area that where they initially merged.

Former course

The former course of Río Chiquito, prior to being diverted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, followed from the area just east of PR-504, at N 18.04262 W 66.60911, and headed southeast crossing Avenida Federal (aka, Calle A), and continued southeast for some after which it took a southerly turn before crossing today's

PR-10 Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in Puerto Rico. The primary state road connects the city of Ponce in the south coast to Arecibo in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities. Construction on the modern PR- ...

(PR-10 had not been built then). After crossing the area of today's PR-10 it then took a southwesterly course for some , becoming the boundary line between

and

Barrio Machuelo Abajo Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are ...

After these runs, and continuing as the boundary between the two barrios, Río Chiquito took a sharp southerly turn to cross Calle La Plata in the neighborhood of Villa Dos Rios. From there, and still marking the barrios boundary, it traveled some , still southward, before taking a sharp turn west-southwest (WSW) to squeeze itself between Calle Barrio Coquí of Barrio Portugués to the west and Calle Platino of Barrio Machuelo Arriba to the east. A few hundred feet after this Río Chiquito took its final turn, to the west, before it came to an end at its feeding into Río Portugués at N 18.03258 W 66.61397.

Current course

Once the US Army Corps of Engineers diverted its course of Río Chiquito, the last kilometer or so (about 0.7 mile) of the river disappeared, as Río Chiquito came to feed into Río Portugués some 0.5 km north of its initial feeding point. Running southward along the eastern edge of PR-504, Río Chiquito now crosses PR-504 to feed into

some west of the PR-504 bridge, where Río Chiquito ends. This southern terminus for the river occurs north of PR-10, 250 feet east of

PR-503 Puerto Rico Highway 503 (PR-503), also called Carretera Tibes (Road to Tibes), is a tertiary state

, and 250 feet west of PR-504. At its mouth, Río Chiquito has an elevation of 98 feet.'' Feature Query Results.''
US Geological Survey. Feature ID 1612466. Retrieved 24 October 2011. The net effect of the change in the course of the river is that Río Chiquito now feeds into Río Portugués immediately north of PR-10, whereas prior to the change it fed into Río Portugués to the south of PR-10.

References

External links

USGS Hydrologic Unit Map – Caribbean Region (1974)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiquito, Rio Rivers of Puerto Rico Rivers of Ponce, Puerto Rico Barrio Montes Llanos