La Yesca Dam

La Yesca Dam is an embankment dam on the Santiago River 90 km northwest of Guadalajara on the border of Mexico's Nayarit and Jalisco states. Construction on the dam began in 2007 after Empresas ICA was awarded the main construction contract. The dam was inaugurated by President Felipe Calderón on 6 November 2012. The dam supports a 750 MW hydroelectric power station and is part of the Hydroelectric System Santiago. Its construction will improve the regulation of water flow and subsequently power generation downstream at the El Cajón and Aguamilpa Dams.

Design
The La Yesca Dam is a 220 m tall and 628 m long concrete-face rock-fill embankment type with 11900000 m3 of fill. The dam's crest elevation is 579 m above sea level and it sits at the head of a 51590 km2 catchment area. On the dam's left bank is a spillway controlled by six radial gates. The maximum discharge of the spillway is 15915 m3/s. The dam's reservoir has a capacity of 2500000000 m3 of which 1392000000 m3 can be used for generating electricity. The reservoir has a surface area of 33.4 km2 and a normal elevation of 575 m. The power station contains two 375 MW Francis turbine generators producing an estimated annual generation of 1,210 GWh.