In a conversation with a PEMEX executive, I was told that drilling within Los Tuxtlas
resulted in hot lava within a few hundred feet. I have never been able to confirm that
through another source.

Los Tuxtlas abounds with springs, manatiales. Most are simply pressure relief of
layered water, but there also are mineral springs and thermal springs.

One, Coyame, has converted its mineral spring water into a bottling plant.
Aanother, at Arroyo Agrio,
Both are on the north shore of Laguna Catemaco

A miserly hot spring arises at Agua Caliente near Sontecomapan.  Dos Amates has a
tiny mineral bubbler and apparently another brook that runs mineral water but which I
have not had the pleasure to taste, yet.

That does not mesh with the PEMEX quote.  I´ll keep looking.
The Sierra Los Tuxtlas has no rivers that might be considered navigable except by old fashioned dugout canoes or
modern kayaks. But once these Tuxtlas rivers drop to the below the 150 feet elevation line, some become fairly
passable.

The few big rivers on the fringes of Los Tuxtlas were one of the lifelines of Los Tuxtlas until the advent of railroads
Before Cortes, the fertile land of the deltas of the major rivers gave rise to the Olmec civilization and allowed them
to transport massive statues and commerce goods.

Laguna Catemaco´s only outlet is the Rio Grande. Whether the Rio Grande is called "de Catemaco" or "de San
Andres" seems to be up for grabs.  In my personal experience, people downriver refer to it as "de Catemaco".  
Many maps read otherwise. People from San Andres apparently prefer Rio Comoapan. HA!

Also questionable is whether Rio Huyeapan runs into Rio Grande or vice versa. Since I´m a Catemaco provincial at
present, I stick with Catemaco´s river to its merger with Rio San Juan.

Assorted rios drain into the Rio Grande, including San Andres Tuxtla´s Tajalete and Santiago Tuxtla´s Tepango river.

The Eqypantla's waterfall effectively stoppers up the Rio Grande, and preserves the endemic fish species in
Laguna Catemaco and above. (Last I heard there were no 30 meter jumping fish in Los Tuxtlas).

Rio San Juan drains arrives from the Sierra Madre and drains most of the northern Tuxtlas from near Acayucan to
its merger with Rio Papaloapan near Alvarado and its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico.

Aside from the gulf, Rio San Juan was the major north/south transit route for Los Tuxtlas since the advent of
civilization. Until the construction of a railroad in early 1900 the river was in use from the then port city of San Juan
Evangelista, near Acayucan, to Alvarado, accepting numerous other rivers arriving from the Tuxtlas and linking it to
all major settlements.

Rio Hueyapan drains most of the southern Santa Marta´s then merges with Rio Grande de Catemaco before its
merger with Rio San Juan. Although placid most of the year, in 1998 and again in 2005, torrential rains caused
major floods and substantial damage to lives and property.

Normally the river which overflows regularly only causes problems to the same people that continue to live in its
flood path.
The Tuxtlas are criss-crossed by hundreds of water ways, ranging from tiny arroyos to clear mountain streams and mud
laden giants. Torrential downpours during the rainy season can swell a rio within minutes and float your car away if
you´re sightseeing in a vado.

Some of the rios that pass by human habitations have that ugly sheen of milky detergent, a sign of unwarranted
contamination. But many are breathtakingly beautiful.

The volcanic massifs are natural watersheds and shed their water in all directions. Dozens of streams run into the Gulf of
Mexico, some meander to the Laguna del Ostion.

The inland side of the southern Tuxtlas drains mostly into a few large rivers which ultimately flow into the massive San
Juan which at its end joins the mighty Rio Papaloapan into the Gulf of Mexico.

A few other rios drain into Rio Coatzacoalcos or some of its tributaries.

The watershed between the two giant cuencas (watersheds) of Coatzacoalcos and Papaloapan is near Acayucan. It´s
also the only land bridge connecting the Tuxtlas to the Sierra Madre. It desperately needs protection to preserve wildlife
genetic diversity.
Los Tuxtlas Coast - North
Rio Maquina, Monte Pio
Rio Col, Monte Pio
Rio El Rejon, Playa Hermosa
Rio Revolucion, Playa Hermosa
Rio Los Organos, Playa Hermosa
Rio Oro, Costa de Oro
Rio Liza, Arroyo de Liza
Rio Toro Prieto
Rio La Tortuga

Rio Manatiales, near Roca Partida
Rio Salinas, near Roca Partida
Rio Gachapa, near Roca Partida
Rio Prieto
Rio Cañas
Laguna Sontecomapan
Rio Palma  - from San Martin, through La Palma,
then joins Rio Basura, or vice versa.
Rio Basura - from San Martin
Rio Chuniapan - from Santa Martas
Lopez Mateos
Rio Sabalo - merges with Coxcoapan
Rio Yohualtajapan - from Santa Marta´s

plus several other arroyos draining the San
Martin/Santa Marta corridor
Los Tuxtlas Coast - South
Ell Salvador
El Carrizal
El Salado
Las Cañas
Olapa  (Arrecifes)
Huatzinapan
Zapotitlan
Encinalillo
Mezcalapa

Zapoapan
Anuacasapa
Sochapan
Tecuanapa
Pilapa
Guayabilla, into Pilapa
Supaquiapan, near Peña Hermosa
Tenantitenapan
Zapopan
Chamilpa
Chinita
Laguna del Ostíon
Metzapa
Sochapa
Ojochapa
Temoloapan

Huazuntlan
Laguna Catemaco
Arroyo Coyame
Arroyo Ojoxapan
Arroyo San Gabriel
Arroyo Cuetzalapan
Arroyo Escaceba
Arroyo Ahuacapan
Arroyo La Margarita

Arroyo Pozolapan
Arroyo Cuixapan, near La Victoria
Arroyo La Victoria
Arroyo Excuinapan
Yuribia
Tepetapan
The Water Wars have already begun in Los Tuxtlas

The occupation of the Yuribia installations since last Sunday leaves the municipalities of Coatzacoalcos, Minatitlan and
Cosoleacaque without drinking water.

No agreement has been reached to re-establish the supply, confirmed the governor, Fidel Herrera Beltran.

The inhabitants of various Nahua and Populuca communities, supported by the mayor of Tatahuicapan de Juarez, Julian Cruz
Gomez, took possession of the dam installations to press demands that the state government fulfill its commitments to the
impacted communities.

The region affected by the cut-off of water supply, above all in Minatitlan, Coatzacoalcos and Cosoleacaque, house the
country's main petrochemical plants, property of Petroleos Mexican (Pemex).

The Yuribia dam, built on the Rio Tixizapan, crosses the municipality of Tatahuicapan, in the Sierra Soteapan indigenous
reagion, and feeds the aqueducts that supply of drinking water to the industrial corridor of Coatzacoalcos, Minatitlan and
Cosoleacaque.

As of this afternoon, the conflict continues without a solution, reproted Herrera Beltran, recognizing that the indigenous
residents of Tatahuicapan de Juarez demand public works in their communities, which the has not been able to carry out,
"but they are going to do so."

In popular assembly, the protesters sent a document to the state government, through the municipal president, Julian Gomez
Cruz, demanding a signed agreement with the municipal governments of Coatzacoalcos, Minatitlan and Cosoleacaque with
that of Tatahuicapan for the maintanance of the dam and local aquifer.

In the document, the peasants demand an end to the ecological damage caused by the super-exploitation of the waters,
"which has generated millions of pesos in the past years without any benefit to the inhabitants of the place."

The statement warned that if their demands were not met, and if authorities proceeded with plans to enlarge the dam's
capacity, they would be forced to take radical measures, because the environmental damage to their communities would be
irreversable.

The indigenous inhabitants also erected vigilance roadblocks on the highways to San Pedro Soteapan, Pajapan, Mecayapan,
Chinameca and Cosoleacaque, as a preventative measure against an eventual eviction.

Copied from: World War 4 Reports, Spanish article at La Jornada
dams
At present, the only significant dams I know about are Presa Tepetapan  which dams the outflow of Laguna
Catemaco on behalf of the hydroelectric plant in Chilapan, and the Presa Yuribia that collects waters from the
the Sierra Santa Marta to provide water for Minatitlan and Coatzacoalcos in southern Veracruz.
river index
springs
Major Rivers
Rio San Juan
Rio Coatzacoalcos
Rio Grande de Catemaco
Rio Hueyapan
Rivers, Dams and Watersheds
rivers
watersheds
The Sierra de Los Tuxtlas sheds its water into 2 massive river systems arising in the Mexican Sierra to the south, and
directly into the Gulf of Mexico to the north.

Most of the rivers in the San Martin, and many in the western half of the Sierra Santa Marta flow into the Rio San Juan to
ultimately merge with the Rio Papaloapan on its way to the Gulf. The remainder of Santa Marta flow into tributaries of the
Rio Coatzacoalcos and Laguna del Ostion.

The coastal area is divided into 14 additional sub "cuencas" (watersheds) formed by the rivers having formed valleys in
the sides of the volcanic mountains. Laguna del Ostion forms the last coastal cuenca before Rio
Coatzacoalcos. Laguna Catemaco and Laguna Sontecomapan forms their own watersheds.
some of rivers, streams and brooks of Los Tuxtlas
links