Media

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

USGS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other federal agencies are working with Ecuadorian government officials from the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC) on strategies for managing sediment and erosion in the Río Coca basin after the 2020 collapse of the 144-meter-tall San Rafael waterfall.

The river valley has been eroding catastrophically upstream of the waterfall collapse, causing landslides and infrastructure damage. The erosion is rapidly migrating upstream and threatening approximately $3 billion of Ecuadorian infrastructure, including the Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydropower facility. A new journal article, Major fluvial erosion and a 500-Mt sediment pulse triggered by lava-dam failure, Río Coca, Ecuador, documents this historic event.

During the January visit, USGS scientists observed substantial river channel shifts and upstream migration of the erosion front since April 2023. The erosion front is now about 7 kilometers downstream of the intake to the CCS hydropower facility. USGS and USACE scientists also visited and assessed the extent of sediment migration to the lower reaches of the Río Coca, downstream of the waterfall collapse. In addition to effects of the 2020 waterfall collapse, the same hydropower facilities are threatened by reservoir sediment accumulation upstream of the CCS intake.

Media

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

USACE and USGS scientists briefed new leadership of CELEC, Paúl Urgilés (CELEC General Manager) and Raúl Lopez (CELEC Río Coca Commission Director), as well as U.S. Embassy staff in Ecuador, regarding U.S. agency support to Ecuador in responding to the hazards. CELEC leadership expressed support for continued U.S. government assistance and for a USGS proposal to implement a watershed monitoring plan for sediment and streamflow. These data are needed by CELEC for sustainability assessments of infrastructure and implementation of sediment- and erosion-management strategies.