The dream that drowned
At the end of the 19th century, travellers began flocking to Lake Epecuén in Argentina to ‘take the waters’, and a dazzling spa town quickly grew up on its shores. But the lake’s unpredictable levels stymied development. The government’s solution was to build a canal to top up the lake, but once it started to flow, it proved difficult to stop.
Located about 550 kilometres southwest of Buenos Aires, Lake Epecuén is one of a series of ephemeral lakes that sit in depressions thought to have originally been created by a meteorite impact. The lake is ‘endorheic’, meaning that it has no drainage channels to carry its waters away, so its level is determined by the balance between inflows and evaporation. Known as terminal or sink lakes, water bodies such as this drain around 18 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. Because they aren’t flushed through, they often have high mineral levels. When Epecuén’s waters were analysed in 1886, ten years after a small spa town was founded on its shores, they were found to be ten times saltier than the sea.
During the early decades of the 20th century, the Argentine government sought to capitalise on the growing popularity of the spa town that had been established on the lake’s northeastern shore, and encouraged would-be entrepreneurs to settle there.
The town quickly swelled as hotels, a spa complex, a railway station and a power plant were built, and wealthy Argentine families flocked to the area in the hope of receiving cures for obesity, depression, skin problems and rheumatism. However, the unpredictability of the lake’s water level soon became a problem. In dry years, it was difficult for visitors to reach the water, and occasionally it was so dry that the lake appeared to be nothing more than a huge crust of salt. Those involved in the swelling tourism trade wanted to stabilise the water levels and lobbied the government for a solution.
Finally, during the 1970s, the 92-kilometre Ameghino canal was built to channel water from nearby mountain streams in the lake. Epcuén filled up with water and the spa town boomed (despite the fact that the lake’s waters were now so dilute that they had probably lost whatever healing properties they might once have possessed). However, the canal water only flowed one way, and the lake began to creep closer to the town. An embankment was initially built around the settlement but, during a storm in 1985, it was breached, and within 48 hours, 30 per cent of the town was underwater. The army evacuated the 1,000-plus population. Many didn’t want to leave, but within a week, the entire town was flooded, and by the 1990s, it was ten metres below the surface.
At its peak during the 1970s, Lake Epecuén had 5,000 hotel beds and welcomed around 25,000 visitors during the summer months. When it flooded, the losses were enormous: 544 homes, 112 guesthouses, ten restaurants, 16 hotels, 50 shops, four discos, a sports club and a racetrack were all destroyed. Residents spent years seeking compensation, but eventually received very little.
Located about 550 kilometres southwest of Buenos Aires, Lake Epecuén is one of a series of ephemeral lakes that sit in depressions thought to have originally been created by a meteorite impact. The lake is ‘endorheic’, meaning that it has no drainage channels to carry its waters away, so its level is determined by the balance between inflows and evaporation. Known as terminal or sink lakes, water bodies such as this drain around 18 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. Because they aren’t flushed through, they often have high mineral levels. When Epecuén’s waters were analysed in 1886, ten years after a small spa town was founded on its shores, they were found to be ten times saltier than the sea.
During the early decades of the 20th century, the Argentine government sought to capitalise on the growing popularity of the spa town that had been established on the lake’s northeastern shore, and encouraged would-be entrepreneurs to settle there.
The town quickly swelled as hotels, a spa complex, a railway station and a power plant were built, and wealthy Argentine families flocked to the area in the hope of receiving cures for obesity, depression, skin problems and rheumatism. However, the unpredictability of the lake’s water level soon became a problem. In dry years, it was difficult for visitors to reach the water, and occasionally it was so dry that the lake appeared to be nothing more than a huge crust of salt. Those involved in the swelling tourism trade wanted to stabilise the water levels and lobbied the government for a solution.
Finally, during the 1970s, the 92-kilometre Ameghino canal was built to channel water from nearby mountain streams in the lake. Epcuén filled up with water and the spa town boomed (despite the fact that the lake’s waters were now so dilute that they had probably lost whatever healing properties they might once have possessed). However, the canal water only flowed one way, and the lake began to creep closer to the town. An embankment was initially built around the settlement but, during a storm in 1985, it was breached, and within 48 hours, 30 per cent of the town was underwater. The army evacuated the 1,000-plus population. Many didn’t want to leave, but within a week, the entire town was flooded, and by the 1990s, it was ten metres below the surface.
At its peak during the 1970s, Lake Epecuén had 5,000 hotel beds and welcomed around 25,000 visitors during the summer months. When it flooded, the losses were enormous: 544 homes, 112 guesthouses, ten restaurants, 16 hotels, 50 shops, four discos, a sports club and a racetrack were all destroyed. Residents spent years seeking compensation, but eventually received very little.
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