San Rafael Falls

The San Rafael Falls (Spanish: La Cascada San Rafael) were, until 2 February 2020, the tallest falls in Ecuador. The 130-metre (430 ft) falls were located on the Coca River in Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve until a collapse of the river bed upstream of the falls diverted the river underneath the band of hard rock that had originally formed the lip of the waterfall,^[2] connecting to a cave below and creating a new natural bridge, possibly surpassing Xianren Bridge as the longest in the world.^[3] The natural bridge subsequently collapsed in February 2021.^[4] The falls were a significant tourist attraction with a recorded 30,000 visitors during 2019.^[5]

San Rafael Falls
Location	Sucumbíos and Napo, Ecuador
Coordinates	0°06′13″S 77°34′53″W / 0.1037°S 77.5813°W / -0.1037; -77.5813
Type	Tiered plunges (until 2015) Plunge (2015–2020)
Total height	131 m (430 ft) (until 2020)^[1]
Number of drops	2 (until 2015) 1 (2015–2020)
Total width	30 m (98 ft) (until 2020)^[1]
Average width	23 m (75 ft) (until 2020)^[1]
Run	46 m (151 ft) (until 2020)^[1]
Watercourse	Coca River
Average flow rate	400 m^3/s (14,000 cu ft/s) ^[1]

There has been discussion as to whether the riverbed collapse and subsequent disappearance of the falls is connected with the operation of the Coca Codo Sinclair Dam some 20 km upstream. There are concerns too about how the altered hydrology of the river may affect its ecology.^[2] Additionally, the river effectively bypassed the resistant rock of the brink of the falls, causing a sudden river rejuvenation, which in turn has resulted in very rapid headward erosion of a steep-sided gorge upstream of the sinkhole, threatening numerous structures upstream, including the Coca Codo Sinclair Dam.^[6]

See also

• List of waterfalls by flow rate

References

1. "San Rafael, Cascada de, Ecuador – World Waterfall Database". www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
2. "Why Did Ecuador's Tallest Waterfall Suddenly Disappear?". The Wire. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
3. "Sudden Birth of a Large Natural Bridge in Ecuador — Possibly the Longest in the World!". 10 April 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
4. Oroczo, Monica. "Represamiento del río Coca en el sitio de la antigua Cascada de San Rafael se desfogó" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
5. "Country's largest waterfall stops flowing after a giant sink hole swallows the Coca River". CuencaHighlife. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
6. José Paz Cardona, Antonio (12 August 2020). "Ecuador Races for Emergency Infrastructure as River's Collapse Threatens Dam". Retrieved December 6, 2020.