Water resources of the North Coast Limestone area, Puerto Rico

The north-coast limestone area, about 600 square miles, is one of the few sparsely populated parts of Puerto Rico, and is the island 's last large and underdeveloped source of ground water. The area 's limestone aquifers are (from oldest to youngest): the Lares Limestone, the Cibao Formation, the Aguada Limestone, and the Aymamon Limestone. Only between Arecibo and Barceloneta have artesian aquifers (the Montebello Limestone Member of the Cibao Formation, and the upper Lares Limestone) been found. Wells along Highway 2 can be expected to yield a few hundred gpm. Wells in the water-table aquifers can be expected to yield 1,000 gpm in the upper Aymamon Limestone; in the lower Aymamon and Aguada Limestones yields range from 100 to 800 gpm, and in the Cibao Formation and Lares Limestone, from 100 to 200 gpm. (Woodard-USGS)