STUDY AND CONTROL OF THE MORPHODYNAMIC CHANGES INDUCED BY AN ARTIFICIAL CHANNEL AT CUAUTLA, NAYARIT, MEXICO

Abstract

The study site is located in the west of Mexico, on the coastal plain of northern Nayarit and southern Sinaloa. It is a huge area that includes rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean, coastal lagoons and the vast area known as Marismas Nacionales which is a valuable, protected region of salt marshes. In the 1970’s a 3 km long artificial channel was opened close to the coastal town of Cuautla, with the objective of facilitating fishing activities. Its original cross section was 40 m wide and 2 m deep but its poor design and the large volumes of water that pass through the channel during storms, has meant that the channel has widened and deepened dramatically. It now measures 800 m in width and 25 m in depth. The main goal of the work presented here is to understand the hydraulic distribution (flows and water quality) and the morphological evolution of the channel, which has never been thoroughly done before. This will enable us to see how the system is currently working in order to propose an engineering solution focused on stabilizing the channel and recovering the natural areas that have been degraded.