This list of rivers of Ponce consists of the 14 rivers in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rivers that either originate in the municipality or that run the bulk of their course through said municipality are listed. Except for two rivers, Río Portugués and Río Jacaguas, all other rivers originate and terminate within the boundaries of the municipality of Ponce. This list does not include quebradas (English: brooks). Only streams recognized as "rivers" by the United States Geological Survey and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources are included here.
All the rivers in the municipality of Ponce run into one of four river basins that then empty into the Caribbean Sea.[1] These four river basins are: Río Matilde, Río Bucaná, Río Inabón, and Río Jacaguas.
Río Pastillo and Río Canas merge to form Río Matilde. Río Blanco, Río Prieto, Río San Patricio, Río Bayagán, Río Cerrillos, Río Chiquito, and Río Portugués all run in one manner or other into Río Bucaná. Río Anon feeds into Río Inabón (Río Guayo also feeds into Río Inabón, but Río Guayo is not located in the municipality of Ponce). Río Jacaguas is actually shared between the municipalities of Ponce and Juana Díaz, as it forms the boundary between the two municipalities. Various rivers feed into Río Jacaguas, but none of them are located within the municipality of Ponce.
Two rivers, Río Bucaná and Río Portugués, are partially canalized. These canalization occur in parts of the urban area of the city of Ponce. Additionally, two rivers have been dammed: Río Cerrillos was dammed to create the Cerrillos Lake, and the damming of Río Portugués is expected to create the Portugués Lake[2] when the project is completed in 2013.[3] The damming of Río Cerrillos occurred north of the point where Río Bayagán feeds into Río Cerrillos but south of where Río San Patricio feeds into Río Cerrillos.