Quebrada de Ullum Dam
Encyclopedia
The Ullum Dam is a dam
on the San Juan River
, in Province of San Juan
, Argentina
. It is located at the gorge of the Quebrada de Ullum, 18 km upstream from the provincial capital San Juan
, and creates a reservoir with an area of 32 km², a volume of 440 million m³, and average and maximum depths of 15 and 40 m, respectively. The reservoir feeds a hydroelectric
power station
with an installed power capacity of 41 MW
.
The region is arid, with mean annual rainfall below 85 mm, and is traversed by the rivers San Juan and Jáchal
. The dam is employed to regulate the flow to irrigate
about 800 km² of the Tulum Valley for agriculture, which is the basis of the economy of San Juan. It also allows for recreational and tourist activities.
Work on the dam began in 1969, and the facility was inaugurated on December 3, 1980.
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on the San Juan River
San Juan River (Argentina)
The San Juan River is, together with the Jáchal, the most important river of the Argentine province of San Juan. Both join the Desaguadero/Colorado system that end at the Atlantic Ocean....
, in Province of San Juan
San Juan Province (Argentina)
San Juan is a province of Argentina, located in the western part of the country. Neighbouring provinces are, moving clockwise from the north, La Rioja, San Luis and Mendoza. It borders with Chile at the west....
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. It is located at the gorge of the Quebrada de Ullum, 18 km upstream from the provincial capital San Juan
San Juan, Argentina
San Juan is the capital city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the ....
, and creates a reservoir with an area of 32 km², a volume of 440 million m³, and average and maximum depths of 15 and 40 m, respectively. The reservoir feeds a hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
with an installed power capacity of 41 MW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
.
The region is arid, with mean annual rainfall below 85 mm, and is traversed by the rivers San Juan and Jáchal
Jáchal River
The Jáchal River is a river in the province of San Juan, Argentina. It is part of the Desaguadero River basin, and one of the most important permanent watercourses in the province, with an average flow of 9 m³/s...
. The dam is employed to regulate the flow to irrigate
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
about 800 km² of the Tulum Valley for agriculture, which is the basis of the economy of San Juan. It also allows for recreational and tourist activities.
Work on the dam began in 1969, and the facility was inaugurated on December 3, 1980.