Inaugurated by The President from the Mexican United States Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and The President from the United States of America Richard M. Nixon September 8 1969.

International cooperation

Amistad Lake, built jointly with the governments from Mexico and of the United States it is, as their name it indicates it, the politics' of understanding eloquent demonstration and reciprocal respect that maintain the two neighboring nations, and it puts apparent the frank spirit of collaboration that you/they encourage them for the best use in their international rivers in benefit of both countries. Place where you will be able to come to enjoy beautiful landscape, to make fishing.

Vertedor

In the central part of the concrete section the vertedor of excesses is located, occupying what is properly the canon of the river. The discharges of waters surpluses of the glass will be controlled by 16 floodgates 15 width meters by 16 meters high. The maximum capacity of discharge is of 43,700 cubic meters for second that will be used very far, because the registered maximum avenues will be been able to manage with expenses smaller than 4,000 cubic meters per second.

On the vertedor a concrete bridge forms an on the way to two roadways that it allows the traffic of vehicles of a country to other and on which lodge the mechanisms that operate the floodgates, In an amplification to the center of the bridge, in fact in the international dividing line, the monument of the lake is located, provided of an area of parking of vehicles, to each side. In front of him he/she is the control building from which the floodgates of the vertedor are operated.

Takings

Next to the vertedor, in the section of concrete of the lake, each country has built a taking work to install in the future thing a hydroelectric plant. The work of taking of Mexico it consists on four pipes to pressure of 4.80 diameter meters; that of the United States with capacity of generation of 80,000 KW and it will generate 160 annual millions of KWH approximately. Each country will build its plant when it considers it convenient and it will install its generating units in the stages that he/she judges appropriate.

While the plants are built, the discharges of water for watering will be made by some of the pipes, properly conditioned for the effect.

Earth curtain

The curtain of earth of Lake Friendship that supplements the central section of concrete, consists on two dikes, one in each country. The dike of the Mexican side measures 6.560 meters of longitude and that of the United States measures 2,590 meters. The height of the earth curtain is variable, reaching a maximum 35 meters.

In each country it has been built on the curtain of the earth near the central section of concrete, a hut of tariff and migratory inspection, with the purpose of controlling the I traffic of people and of vehicles of a country to another for the bridge of the vertedor.

Glass

The glass of Amistad lake has a surface of 357 square kilometers to the maximum elevation of storage and extends 138 kilometers for the bed of the one he/she Laughed Brave.

Each country acquired to its own expense the lands required for the glass inside its territory. Likewise each country payment the costs of deviation of highways, railroads or other works of service installed in their own territory.

Characteristic of the glass
 

	México	United States
Capacity for azolves retention			680 millions of m3.
Useful capacity	1,620	2,080	3,700 millions ofm3
Capacity for control of avenues			2,600 millions of m3
Total			6,980 millions of m3

Of conformity with the stipulations of the Treaty of Waters, it has been marked with you float luminous the international dividing line in the glass of the lake.

Division of the construction cost

The treaty of Waters specifies that the construction cost of each one of the International Preys of Storage will be divided among the two countries in the same proportion in that it distributes the useful capacity of each prey between both. As the useful capacity of Lake Friendship I assign you to Mexico 43.8% and to the United States 56.2% the cost of construction of the lake of I distribute among the two countries in those proportions.

On the other hand, the same Treaty of Waters specifies that the cost of construction of the hydroelectric plants that you/they settle in the International Preys of Storage will be distributed by the half among the two countries and in the same proportion the generated hydroelectric energy will be distributed. to satisfy the interests of the two countries, it was suited that the hydroelectric facilities in Lake Friendship will be divided in two plants, one in the Mexican side and another in the side of the United States, with the same maximum capacity of generation, and that half of the energy it was generated in each plant. In this form, the cost of construction of the plant that settles in the Mexican side will be covered by Mexico, and that of the plant that settles in the United States will be covered by the United States.

As in the current construction of the lake some works have been made that form part of the hydroelectric plants, the distribution of the costs of construction of Lake Friendship and of the initiation of the hydroelectric plants it is the following one:

Costs in Mexican pesos
 

	México	United States	Total
Prey	$349,011,595	$447,818,530	$796,830,125
Initiation of the plants	$70.965,487	$97,094,038	$168,059,525
Total	$419,977,082	$544,912,568	$964,889,650

These construction costs don't include the costs of camps, roads, railroads, etc., neither the value of the lands that occupy the works and the glass of the lake, which have been covered by each country in their own territory.

Division of the construction works

Each country you responsibility of the construction of a part of the lake that had a dear amount similar to the part of the construction cost that corresponded him.

The works assigned to Mexico, with a dear amount of 420 million pesos, included the earth curtain and the taking work in Mexico, and a part of the vertedor. The main departures of executed work were 5,127,000 cubic meters of embankment, 1,376,000 cubic meters of excavation in rock, 695,000 cubic meters of concrete and the supply and installation of 3,350,000 kilograms of structural steel and of reinforcement.

The works assigned to the United states, with a dear amount of 545 million pesos, included the earth curtain and the taking work in the United States and another part of the vertedor. The main departures of executed work were 4,214,000 cubic meters of embankment, 946,000 cubic meters of excavation in rock, 688,000 cubic meters of concrete and 6,892,000 kilograms of structural steel and of reinforcement, including the 16 floodgates of the vertedor.

The division of the construction works enters the two countries it allowed to each one of them to make its investments in form but convenient to benefit its own workers and technical, its companies and its industries. The work assigned to Mexico you carries out by means of Mexican contract to the company The Victoria and Associates, CORP. The work of the United States you executes by means of American contract granted to the consortium Perini, Leavell, Jones and Vinnell.

The construction works began in January of 1965 and they were concluded in August of 1969. The coordinated programs of construction allowed to begin the storage of water in the glass of the lake in July of 1968.

National cooperation

For what corresponds Mexico, Lake Friendship, due to their international character, this first floor the jurisdiction of the Secretary of External Relationships that exercises their functions for conduit of the Mexican Section of the International Commission of you Limit and you Dilute. The use of the Mexican waters that you/they are stored in the Prey is of the Secretary's of Hydraulic Resources competition and the future generation of hydroelectric energy concerns to the Federal Commission of Electricity.

The Mexican Section consults previously with the Secretary of Hydraulic Resources and with the Federal Commission of Electricity the pertinent aspects of the lake, in order to assure that the international agreement that you/they took place to build it was satisfactory for all the Mexican interests.

The Secretary of Hydraulic Resources has acted as ejector of the international obligations contracted by the Mexican Section of the Commission for the construction of Lake Friendship, to be the dependence government competent Mexican, and it has been the one that took charge of carrying out the works of construction of the lake assigned to Mexico.

The coordination of the functions of the Mexican dependences, complementary among if, it has been the one that took charge of carrying out the works of construction of the lake assigned to Mexico.

The coordination of the functions of the Mexican dependences, complementary among if, it has been excellent in all occasion, since the common objective is the but high interest of the homeland.

Resume of characteristic main

Curtain

Location: In the River Brave 20 Km.. you dilute up of Cd. Acuna, Coah. and Of the River, Texas.

Die: Control of Avenues, Storages and regularization of the glides of the river and generation of hydroelectric energy.

Type: Mixed construction, with section of graveness of concrete in the canon of the river and earth dikes and enrocamiento to both sides.

Longitude: In Mexico 6,892 meters. In the United States 2,923 meters. Total 9,815 meters.

Height: Section of concrete; 77 m. on the channel of the river. Terrace, 35 m. on the natural land.

Elevation of the crown: 351.22 meters on the level of the sea.
 

Glass

Vertedor

Elevation of crest vertedora: 331.14 meters.

Floodgates: 16 radial floodgates of 15 m. of width for 16 m. of height.

Tank shock: Type of hydraulic jump with blocks baffles:
289 m. of width for 69 meters of longitude.
Maximum capacity of discharge: 43,700 cubic per second.Tomas for riego y for generation future:

Mexico: 4 pipes of 4.80 m. of diameter with threshold to the elevation. 294.20
United States: 5 pipes of 4.43 m. of diameter with threshold to the elevation. 281.94

Construction cost

Hydroelectric Plants:

Preparations for future construction of a plant with capacity of 80,000 KW in each country.
Annual capacity of generation 320 million KW-hours.

Historical Resume

At the end of 1952 the International Commission of Limits and Waters agree to propose to the two Governments that the prey international superior and the intermediate one that he/she mentions the Treaty of Waters of 1944 are substituted with an alone one located waters immediately under the mouth of a river Devis in the place that The Devil was called", to achieve the best control in the avenues.

In November of 1958 they are approved by the Governments from Mexico and of the United States the localization, capacity and type of The Devil's lake.

February 20 1959 meet in Acapulco the Presidents Adolfo Lopez Kills you and Dwight D. Eisenhower and they declare in their combined official statement their agreement about the convenience of building The Devil's Prey.

October 12 1959 the Presidents Adolfo Lopez Kills you and Dwight D. Eisenhower meets again, in Camp David, Maryland and they decide to change the name of The Devil's lake for that of Prey of The Friendship."

Again the Presidents meet Adolfo Lopez Kills you and Eisenhower in Cd. It coins, Coah. October 24 1960 and they suit in that Lake Friendship is built as soon as it is possible after the Governments approve the technical recommendations that he/she makes the Commission with that object.

In January of 1961 the two Governments approve the recommendations of the CILA for the construction of Lake Friendship. It is proven that with the prey the taking works and pipes are built to pressure for two hydroelectric plants of the same generation capacity, one in each country and that each one of the two Governments undertakes the construction of their plant when it suits him and in the stages that he/she judges appropriate.

In July of 1963 the two countries begin the works preparations in perforation and injected of the foundation.

November 19 1964 the two Governments award the respective contracts for the construction of Lake Friendship.

January 2 1975 begin the works of construction of the lake.

December 3 1966 meet in Cd. It coins, Coah., the Presidents Adolfo Lopez Kills you and Lyndon B. Johnson to visit the works of construction of Lake Friendship.

July 14 1968 close the last conduit of deviation of the river and the storage of water begins in the Prey.

In finished September of 1969, the construction works, the Prey is inaugurated by the Presidents Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and Richard M. Nixon.