Poechos Reservoir
Poechos Reservoir is a middle-sized reservoir on Peru's Chira River in the border area between Peru and Ecuador. Its purpose is to improve the accumulation of water stocks in the upper part of Peru's Chira basin by flood control, irrigation, drainage and electricity generation. Location. The Poechos Reservoir is situated in the northernmost part of Peru, in the lower flow of the rivers Chira and Piura, about 50 km north of Piura, the capital of the Piura Region. It is located on 4° 3' southern latitude and 80° 2' western longitude at an  altitude of 98 m in the Lancones district of the province of Sullana, approximately 30 km from the border with Ecuador. History. The system was built in support of agrarian reform and infrastructure policies led by the military dictatorship of Juan Velasco Alvarado. Construction was carried out in four phases, the first of which was constructed by Yugoslav contractor Energoprojekt and supervised by the Peruvian subsidiary of British company Binnie & Partners. Works started on 24 June 1972, with inauguration taking place on 4 June 1976. Phases of the project go as follow: Phase 1 (1970 to 1977). The first phase  included the construction of Phase 2 (1978 to 1985). The second phase covered Phase 3 (1985 to 1997). The third phase consisted of Phase 4 (2002 to 2004). The final phase included Capacities. The capacity of the reservoir is 1,000,000,000 m, its catchment area 14,000 m, its maximum depth 46 m. The irrigation dam is 49 m high and 9 km wide at crest and at its bottom has a conduit to discharge water at a rate of 4 m/s. The original design brief was to revitalise the Piura valley, which was short of water, and provide modern irrigation  for approximately 350 km of arable land. The Poechos I Hydroelectric Plant is operated by Sindicato Energético S.A (SINERSA). The Poechos I power house has 15.4 MW in installed capacity and generates 60 GW·h annually for Electronoroeste, the concessionary for energy distribution in northwestern Peru. The power plant is to accomplish a 90% national electrification level of the country by the year 2010 by using a zero emission energy source.