Evolution of a debris-rock slide causing a natural dam: the flash flood of Río Santa Cruz, Province of San Juan-November 12, 2005

Abstract

Between 2001 and 2005, a large debris rock slide occurred on the western slope of the Cordillera de Santa Cruz in the southeast Andean corner of the Province of San Juan (31°40′ S–70°16′ W). The landslide material accumulated in a downstream gorge as a natural dam of the Santa Cruz river, forming a large-volume lake. In November 2005, probably as a result of the increasing pressure of the water volume, this natural dam breached off with a violent and unexpected flash flood. In addition to life-threatening instances lived by some people downstream, this flood caused great economic loss to main localities of the Department of Calingasta, as well as considerable damage to one of the most relevant projects of the Province, the Caracoles Hydropower Project dam on the San Juan river. Considering the high costs of any physical remediation for a natural dam located in this high, remote, and inaccessible mountain area with no reliable road access, the main protective measures left to be pondered are the installation of a flash-flood early-warning system connected to downstream localities, along with a program of hydrological monitoring at the dam-forming area and annual satellital monitoring to verify the evolution of accumulated mass movements.