Chiquito River () is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. This river feeds into RÃÂo Portugués in the sector called Parras, about north of the intersection of PR-504 and PR-505. It has its origin in the mountains west of Montes Llanos. RÃÂo Chiquito is fed by Quebrada del Pastillo. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality of Ponce.
RÃÂo Chiquito has its origin in barrio Montes Llanos at an altitude of . It forms in the area north of Camino Paseo del RÃÂo and west of Camino Paseo Panorámico II, in south central Montes Llanos, about half kilometer west of PR-505, and approximately north of the northern terminus of PR-504.
RÃÂo Chiquito runs from south central barrio Montes Llanos into north central barrio Portugués dividing barrio Portugués lengthwise from north to south into essentially two equal halves. It crosses several times the east-to-west Camino La Cuchilla Road as it continues southward. After this, the river is found next to the western edge of PR-588, also known as Camino RÃÂo Chiquito, until PR-588 comes to its southern terminus where it meets PR-504. From this point onward RÃÂo Chiquito runs southward along the western edge of PR-504 for approximately until it crosses PR-504 eastward.
The following table summarizes the course of RÃÂo Chiquito in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in the mountains of Montes Llanos, north of the city of Ponce, to its feeding into RÃÂo Portugués in Barrio Portugués (N/A = Data not available):
For flood control purposes, RÃÂo Chiquito was diverted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers so that it would merge with RÃÂo Portugués about further north from its original natural merge, this merging them in a less populated area that where they initially merged.
The former course of RÃÂo Chiquito, prior to being diverted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, followed from the area just east of PR-504, at N 18.04262 W 66.60911, and headed southeast crossing Avenida Federal (aka, Calle A), and continued southeast for some after which it took a southerly turn before crossing today's PR-10 (PR-10 had not been built then). After crossing the area of today's PR-10 it then took a southwesterly course for some , becoming the boundary line between Barrio Portugués and Barrio Machuelo Abajo After these runs, and continuing as the boundary between the two barrios, RÃÂo Chiquito took a sharp southerly turn to cross Calle La Plata in the neighborhood of Villa Dos Rios. From there, and still marking the barrios boundary, it traveled some , still southward, before taking a sharp turn west-southwest (WSW) to squeeze itself between Calle Barrio Coquàof Barrio Portugués to the west and Calle Platino of Barrio Machuelo Arriba to the east. A few hundred feet after this RÃÂo Chiquito took its final turn, to the west, before it came to an end at its feeding into RÃÂo Portugués at N 18.03258 W 66.61397.
Once the US Army Corps of Engineers diverted its course of RÃÂo Chiquito, the last kilometer or so (about 0.7 mile) of the river disappeared, as RÃÂo Chiquito came to feed into RÃÂo Portugués some 0.5 km north of its initial feeding point.
Running southward along the eastern edge of PR-504, RÃÂo Chiquito now crosses PR-504 to feed into RÃÂo Portugués some west of the PR-504 bridge, where RÃÂo Chiquito ends. This southern terminus for the river occurs north of PR-10, 250 feet east of PR-503, and 250 feet west of PR-504. At its mouth, RÃÂo Chiquito has an elevation of 98 feet.
The net effect of the change in the course of the river is that RÃÂo Chiquito now feeds into RÃÂo Portugués immediately north of PR-10, whereas prior to the change it fed into RÃÂo Portugués to the south of PR-10.