Presa El Muerto

Presa El Muerto is a reservoir in the municipality of Tlaxco, in northern Tlaxcala, about 1,700 m southeast of the community of José María Morelos Buenavista. It was inaugurated in 1987 and sits at roughly 2,540 metres above sea level, with a water surface of about 63 hectares. It is a buttress dam used for farm irrigation, urban supply and recreation.

The name comes from the spot where it was built, known as El Muerto. According to the Spanish Wikipedia article, human remains turned up in the area during construction, possibly from burials older than the nearby community.

The reservoir is fed by the Tepeyehualco and Lagunillas channels, which carry water only in the rainy season, plus small nearby streams. Its level therefore swings a lot: droughts have left it partly or completely dry on several occasions, for example in 2021. Silting, which cuts its capacity, and wastewater from Buenavista and Tepeyahualco, which pollutes the stored water, are also reported. Before going, ask in Buenavista whether the dam has water, since in dry years you may find only the empty basin.

A June 2023 photograph on Wikimedia Commons shows the dam at sunset to the right of Buenavista, at about 2,560 m..