| Lake Palcacocha | |
|---|---|
 2002 | |
  Lake Palcacocha | |
| Location | Ancash Region |
| Coordinates | 9°23′49″S77°22′47″W / 9.39694°S 77.37972°W |
| Basin countries | Peru |
| Surface elevation | 4,566 m (14,980 ft) |
Palcacocha (possibly from Quechua pallqa, p'allqa, p'alqa forked, branched, fork, qucha lake) [1] [2] is a glacier lake in the Andes mountain range of South America in northwestern Peru located in the Ancash Region, Huaraz Province.
Palcacocha is located at 9°23′49″S77°22′47″W / 9.39694°S 77.37972°W in the Ancash Region in Cordillera Blanca at an elevation of 4,566 m, just below the summits of Palcaraju (6,274 m) and Pucaranra (6,156 m). The lake is one of several lakes supplying the town Huaraz with water, 23 km to the southwest.
On the early morning of 13 December 1941 a huge chunk of the adjacent glacier or a large avalanche fell into Lake Palcacocha causing the breaking of the moraine walls that limit the lake downhill. The wave hurtled down the Cojup valley, destroying Lake Jiracocha on its way and carrying blocks of ice, large rock boulders and liquid mud towards the Santa River valley. Within 15 minutes the mudslide reached Huaraz, with 400 m³ of debris burying parts of the town and killing approximately 1,800 to 7,000 inhabitants.
The outburst is estimated to have reduced the volume of the lake from about 10 million cubic metres to half a million. In 1974 drainage structures were built to maintain the level eight metres below the height of the damming moraine in order to protect against overtopping in the event of an avalanche or ice fall into the lake. But an adjacent glacier to the lake has receded since the incident increasing the size of the lake. Also because of climate-change-related melting of the glacier the lake's water input has also increased dramatically since the disaster. By 2009 its volume was about 17 million cubic metres. [3] [4]
In April 2003, NASA scientists discovered a fissure in the glacier above Lake Palcacocha on Terra satellite images of November 2001. Their warnings reached Peru just two weeks after the staff of the UGRH (Unidad de Glaciologia y Recursos Hidricos) had done some field mapping of Lake Palcacocha, where a moraine rupture had caused a minor flood on 19 March 2003 which the safety constructions from the 1940s had captured.
According to research done by scientists of the Innsbruck university in Austria, the ensuing panic among the inhabitants and economic damage to Huaraz' tourism industry could have been prevented, as from their findings the NASA warnings were a misinterpretation of satellite data.
The water volume of Lake Palcacocha has increased significantly in recent years. According to a study by the University of Texas at Austin, the city of Huaraz faces a high risk of flooding from the lake. [5] The volume has grown 34 times since 1970, leading to the declaration of several states of emergency. [6] At the same time, the population of Huaraz has increased from 25 000 in 1941 to around 100 000, many of whom live in the area that was previously flooded.
In 2010 the UGRH presented plans to lower the water level by 15 meters to decrease the risk of flooding. At the same time, the national government rescinded responsibility for glacier lakes from the UGRH and transferred it to the regional authorities. Since the regional authorities did not come up with the funds to implement the measures proposed by the UGRH, six drainpipes were installed in 2011 which reduced the water level by three meters by July 2013. [6]
In March 2015, a citizen of Huaraz who is affected by the risk of flooding, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, shifted global interest to the situation at Lake Palcacocha when he sent a letter to the German utility company RWE in which he held them partially accountable for the situation. [7] [8] Luciano Lliuya states that RWE has contributed half a percentage to global climate change through its operations; accordingly, RWE should contribute half a percentage of the costs to reduce the risk of flooding. On April 30, 2015, the company responded by saying that Saúl Luciano Lliuya's claim had no legal basis and denied any responsibility for the situation. [9] The case was dismissed at the District Court Essen, at which point the plaintiff appealed the decision to the Higher Regional Court of Hamm. In 2018, the case entered into an evidentiary stage at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm. The decision establishes a historic legal precedence, finding that private entities which have contributed to anthropogenic climate change can be held responsible, in part, for damages linked to climate change. [10] During this stage, court-appointed experts were tasked with evaluating the flood risk of Lake Palcacocha and preparing a report regarding the impact that anthropogenic warming has had on the increase in lake levels. [11]
Ancash is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, and its largest city and port is Chimbote. The name of the region originates from the Quechua word anqash, from anqas ('blue') or from anka ('eagle').
In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere.
A moraine-dammed lake, occurs when the terminal moraine has prevented some meltwater from leaving the valley. When a glacier retreats, there is a space left over between the retreating glacier and the piece that stayed intact which holds leftover debris (moraine). Meltwater from both glaciers seep into this space creating a ribbon-shaped lake due to the pattern of ice melt. This ice melt may cause a glacier lake outburst flood, leading to severe damage to the environment and communities nearby. Examples of moraine-dammed lakes include:
Huaraz, founded as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urban area's population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. The city is located in the middle of the Callejon de Huaylas valley and on the right side of the Santa river. The city has an elevation of approximately 3050 meters above sea level. The built-up area covers 8 square kilometers and has a population of 120,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the central Peruvian Andes after the city of Huancayo. It is the 22nd largest city in Peru. Huaraz is the seat of the province's Roman Catholic Bishop and the site of the cathedral.
A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier.
Lake Lauricocha is a lake in the Andes mountains of central Peru, within Huánuco Region.
Lake Conococha is a South American lake located in the Andes mountains of northwestern Peru. It is located in the region of Ancash near the junction of the roads going from Callejón de Huaylas to Chiquián.
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jökulhlaup. The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine. Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an avalanche of rock or heavy snow, an earthquake or cryoseism, volcanic eruptions under the ice, or massive displacement of water in a glacial lake when a large portion of an adjacent glacier collapses into it.
Lake Acchicocha is a lake in Peru located in the Junín Region, Huancayo Province, Chongos Alto District. It is situated at a height of approximately 4,591 metres (15,062 ft), about 5 km long and 1.10 km at its widest point. Lake Acchicocha lies south of Yurajcocha, southeast of Huichicocha, northeast of Huarmicocha and north of Canllacocha.
Jatuncocha is a lake in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru located in the Ancash Region, Huaylas Province, Santa Cruz District. It is situated at a height of 3,886 m (12,749 ft) comprising an area of 0.486550 km2 (486,550 m2). Jatunccocha lies in the Santa Cruz gorge between the peaks of Quitaraju in the north and Caraz in the south, northeast of a smaller lake named Ichiccocha.
Wiqruqucha is a lake in Peru located in the Ancash Region, Mariscal Luzuriaga Province, Lucma District. It is situated at a height of 3,960 m (12,990 ft) comprising an area of 0.208916 km2 (208,916 m2). Wiqruqucha lies in the Cordillera Blanca, southeast of Tawllirahu and east of Pukarahu and a lake named Urqunqucha.
Yanacocha is a lake in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru located in the Ancash Region, Asunción Province, Chacas District. It is situated at a height of about 4,250 metres (13,944 ft), about 470 m long and 161 m at its widest point. Yanacocha lies north-west of the mountain Perlilla, north-east of the mountain Pomabamba, south-west of the lakes Huegroncocha and Runtococha and north-east of the lakes Lauricocha and Paqarisha.
Lauricocha is a lake in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Ancash Region, Asunción Province, Chacas District. Lauricocha lies south-west of the lake Yanacocha, south of Paqarisha Lake and north-east of the mountain Pomabamba.
Lake Allicocha is a lake in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru located in the Ancash Region, Asunción Province, Chacas District; at a height of 4,543 metres (14,905 ft), 204 m long and 113 m at its widest point. Lake Allicocha lies southwest of Copa.
Patarcocha is a lake in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru located in the Ancash Region, Asunción Province, Chacas District. It is situated at a height of 3,900 metres (12,795 ft), 259 m long and 147 m at its widest point. Patarcocha lies northwest of the lakes Yanacocha, Huegroncocha and Runtococha.
Lawriqucha River is a river in the Huánuco Region in Peru. It belongs to the watershed of the Marañón River. The river is named after the lake Lawriqucha or Lauricocha.
Quilcayhuanca, Quillcay,Quilcay or Qelkaywanka is a river in the Ancash Region in Peru. It is a right affluent of the Santa River.
Uruashraju or Verdecocha is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca of the Andes of Peru, about 5,722 metres (18,773 ft) high. It is located in the Ancash Region, Huaraz Province, Olleros District, and in the Huari Province, Chavín de Huantar District. Uruashraju lies south of Huantsán, east of Cashán and Shacsha, and southeast of Lake Tararhua.
Tancancocha is a mountain in the north of the Huallanca mountain range in the Andes of Peru at a small lake of that name. The mountain reaches an altitude of approximately 5,200 m (17,100 ft). It is located in the Ancash Region, Bolognesi Province, in the districts of Aquia and Huallanca.
Lliuya v RWE AG (2015) Case No. 2 O 285/15 is a German tort law and climate litigation case, concerning liability for climate damage in Peru from a melting glacier, against Germany's largest coal burning power company, RWE, which has caused approximately 0.47% of all historic greenhouse gas emissions. It is currently on appeal in the Upper State Court, Oberlandesgericht Hamm.
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