El CajÃ³n Dam (Honduras)

The El Cajon Dam is the largest dam in Honduras. It is also known under the name " Represa Hidroeléctrica Francisco Morazán ".

The dam has a 234 m high arch dam as a shut-off. They dammed the Rio Comayagua in northwestern Honduras. The reservoir has a storage space of 7.085 billion cubic meters ( other information: 4200, 5650 or 6500 million m³) and a water surface area of 109.7 km ². This is something more than the Lago de Yojoa has (90 km ²), located southwest of the dam and the largest natural lake in Honduras.

The main inflows to the reservoir are the Sulaco Rio and the Rio Humuya. The outflow is the Rio Comayagua, which flows via the Río Ulua in the Caribbean Sea.

The dam was completed in 1984. It is used for hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, flood control and recreation. The hydroelectric power plant generates 300 megawatts, and thus 60 % of the electricity needs of Honduras. Operator is the company Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica ( ENEE ).

During Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the reservoir had an extremely large influx of an estimated 9800 m³ / s, which is regarded as 70 % of the maximum inflow ( PMF) of 14,000 m³ / s ( PMF = probable maximum flood). The flooding was recorded in the storage room and there was only an outflow of 1,200 m³ / s The spillway is designed for a peak flow of 5,900 m³ / s. This capacity is achieved by a combination of overflow, with or without fasteners. One year later there was a flood, in which proven the dam. This time, flowed 1,000 m³ / s from.

In the 1980s, a part of the catchment area was declared a National Park Panacoma.