Río Inabón

Río Inabón is one of one of the 14 rivers in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. With a length of some 32.01 kilometers (19.89 mi), it is Ponce's second longest river after Río Jacaguas. It is fed by the Río Anón, Río Guayo (which itself is fed by the Chiquita Brook and the Indalecia Brook) and the Emajagua Brook.^[6] It is also fed by Río Bacas and Río de las Raices.^[7] Originating at an altitude of approximately 4,100 feet (1,200 m),^[8] it forms at a higher altitude than any of the other 13 rivers in the municipality, and at one of the highest points of any river in Puerto Rico. With a watershed area covering 38.18 square miles, Río Inabón also has the second largest basin area of any of the municipality's 14 rivers after Río Jacaguas.

Río Inabón
Rio Inabon in Barrio Real in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Location of mouth
Location
Commonwealth	Puerto Rico
Municipality	Ponce
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Cerro Camacho, Barrio Anón, Ponce (near Jayuya)
• coordinates	17.9688559°N 66.5582270°W / 17.9688559; -66.5582270[1]
• elevation	4,100 feet (1,200 m)
Mouth
• location	Caribbean Sea
• elevation	0 feet (0 m)
Length	19.89 miles (32.01 km)[3]
Basin size	38.18 sq mi (98.9 km2)[4]
Discharge
• average	15,000 cu ft/s (420 m3/s)[5]
Basin features
Progression	Anón Real Coto Laurel Capitanejo/Vayas
River system	Río Inabón
Tributaries
• left	Río Anón
• right	Río Guayo Quebrada Emajagua

Map showing the location of Río Inabón among the other rivers in the municipality. The area in pink represents the urban zone of the city.

Origin and course

Río Inabón has its origin at 4,100 feet (1,200 m) above sea level in Cerro Camacho, in barrio Anón, near Anón's boundary with the municipality of Jayuya.^[9][10][11] The river runs mostly parallel to PR-511.^[12]

Uses

"A provision in The Treaty of Paris of 1898 grants the Serrallés family exclusive rights to the Río Inabón. This river winds through Puerto Rico’s volcanic mountains, and is the exclusive water source for DonQ Rum".^[13] Today Río Inabón is one of the most popular rivers for swimming in southern Puerto Rico.^[14] Some 10 private reservoirs in the Ponce area are fed by the waters of Río Inabón.^[15]

Environmental contamination

In January 2011, Puerto Rico Representative Víctor Vassallo Anadón presented a bill into the Puerto Rico House of Representatives that would improve the sewer system of residents near the river to avoid contaminating it with sewer waters.^[16]

Endangered species

The fern Thelypteris inabonensis found at the headwaters of Río Inabón and at the Toro Negro State Forest has been identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an endangered species.^[17]

Flow

The flow of water in the river is controlled by the floodgates at Toa Vaca Lake, located in the municipality of Villalba.^[18] Río Inabon has a discharge of 15,000 ft³/s.^[19] The Inabón has been known to overflow easily in times of heavy rains.^[20] Several rescues have taken place when the river has increased its level rapidly, a phenomenon known as flash flood.^[21] Due to its proximity to the eastern end of Aeropuerto Mercedita, the river has affected the operation of the airport in times of heavy rains. This was the case with the hurricane Maria in September 2017.^[22]

• 
  Bridge over Río Inabón on PR-1 between Ponce and Santa Isabel in 1920.

Course of the river

The following table summarizes the course of Río Inabón in terms of roads crossed^{[note a]}. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in the mountains of Barrio Anón, north of the city of Ponce, to the Caribbean Sea in the south (N/A = Data not available):

No.	Barrio	Road	Road's km marker	NBI ID[23]	Bridge name (if any)	Direction (of bridge traffic)	Coordinates	Notes
1	Anón	Unnamed	not marked	23401	Unnamed	Both	18°7′55.8114″N 66°34′47.244″W	0.1 km East of PR-511, km 12.7, on Unnamed Road*
2	Anón	PR-511	12.5*	27031	Unnamed	Both	18°7′28.524″N 66°34′41.484″W	0.3 km North of Calle Guarayo
3	Anón	Unnamed	not marked	29441	Unnamed	Both	18°7′20.1″N 66°34′39.54″W	0.1 km West of PR-511, km 12.7, on Unnamed Road (0.1 km north of Calle Guayaro)*
4	Anón	PR-511	11.7*	29421	Unnamed	Both	18°7′15.1674″N 66°34′18.2994″W	0.1 km South of Camino Rosaly. (From this point southward, Río Inabón runs on the west side of PR-511)
5	Real	Calle Sector Jurutungo	not marked	29431	Unnamed	Both	18°5′52.3674″N 66°33′48.8514″W	At Charca Puente del Agua, 0.1 km West of PR-511, km 12.65, on Camino Sector Jurutungo; 0.3 km North of Capilla Catolica San Martin*
6	Coto Laurel	PR-14	9.8	22041	Unnamed	Both	18°3′0.4314″N 66°32′41.4594″W	0.5 km NE of Barrio Coto Laurel; 0.1 km west of INT PR-14 & PR-511.
7	Sabana Llana	PR-52	94.3	N/A	Unnamed	Southbound	18°2′23.136″N 66°32′15.072″W	PR-52 SB in Municipality of Juana Diaz
8	Sabana Llana	PR-52	94.3	N/A	Unnamed	Northbound	18°2′22.416″N 66°32′14.64″W	PR-52 NB in Municipality of Juana Diaz
9	Sabana Llana	C. Ramal/Av. San Cristobal	N/A	25141	Unnamed	Both	18°2′19.9314″N 66°32′14.172″W	Calle Ramal (Calle Laredo) is accessible via Ave. San Cristobal located behind Hospital San Cristobal; Bridge is parallel to the PR-52 km 94.3, bridges
10	Capitanejo, Vayas	PR-1	120.4	251	Unnamed	Both	18°0′14.796″N 66°33′12.132″W	0.1 km west of PR-507, Ponce, immediately east of Aeropuerto Mercedita (6.5 km E of Ponce). Bridge has Ponce's Barrio Vayas to its west and Juana Diaz's Barrio Capitanejo to its east.

• *Marker requires field verification.

See also

• List of rivers of Puerto Rico
• List of rivers of Ponce

Notes

1.^ Google Maps incorrectly labels some of the northern portions of Río Inabón as Río Anón. This is most evident in portions just below where Rio Anón feeds into Rio Inabón. See HereWeGo Maps and MapQuest for labeling consistent with Government of Puerto Rico and USGS labeling.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Inabón
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Río Inabón
3. Los Rios. Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. February 2007: P013. Page 3. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
4. Los Rios. Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. February 2007: P013. Page 3. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
5. Ferdinand Quiñones and Karl G. Johnson. The Floods of May 17–18, 1985 and October 6–7, 1985 in Puerto Rico. U.S. Geological Survey. Open File Report 87-123. Prepared in Conjunction with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, and the Puerto Rico Highway Authority. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1987. Page 15.
6. Salon Hogar.com-Ponce, Hidrografia
7. Ponce en 1831. Sylvia Zavala Trias. In, "Antepasados Esclavos". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
8. Maptest. Archived 18 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
9. Ponce. Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Jorge A. Figueroa Irizarry, Director. Ponce History Museum. Released by Professor F. Suarez. Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. Page 25.
10. Rios de Puerto Rico: Rio Inabon.^{[permanent dead link]}
11. Ponce Ciudad Señorial: Recursos Naturales. Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
12. Salvan a un niño de río embravecido. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 9 May 2012. Year 30. Issue 1484. Page 4. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
13. DonQ's Historical Timeline: Our Rum Journey. DonQ Heritage. Destileria Serralles, Don Q website.
14. Refrescante paseo por los ríos de la zona Sur. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15 July 2009. Page 26. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
15. Informe Ecologico de Flora y Fauna, Proyecto Gasoducto del Sur: Peñuelas, Ponce, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Salinas. For: Proyecto Gasoducto del Sur - Peñuelas, Ponce, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Salinas. By: ENSR (Piscataway, NJ) - AEE (Autoridad de Energia Electrica). Page 19. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
16. Vassallo radica nueva resolución para atender daño ambiental a Rio Inabón.^[usurped] 11 January 2011. El sur a la vista. Ponce Puerto Rico. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
17. Caribbean Endangered Species Map. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Page "Ponce (2-2)." Retrieved 18 August 2013.
18. Desalojan residentes al Sureste de Ponce. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
19. Ferdinand Quiñones and Karl G. Johnson. The Floods of May 17–18, 1985 and October 6–7, 1985 in Puerto Rico. U.S. Geological Survey. Open File Report 87-123. Prepared in Conjunction with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, and the Puerto Rico Highway Authority. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1987. Page 15.
20. Lideran dramático rescate en el Inabón. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
21. Salvan a un niño de río embravecido. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 9 May 2012. Year 30. Issue 1484. Page 4. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
22. Trastoca al sur remanente de María. Reinaldo Millán and Jason Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
23. National Bridge Inventory Data: Puerto Rico, Ponce. James Baughn. BridgeReports.com 2018. Accessed 25 November 2018.

External links

• USGS Geographic Names Information Service
• YouTube video of Rio Inabon at Km 6.7 of PR-511 on 16 October 2010.