Arenal: The Town Lost Beneath The Lake

Today we include a post by a guest blogger, Madeleine Jones, with an interesting read about a long-gone town.

Beautiful Lake Arenal

In the 1970’s, there was a fairly large town in the northern part of Costa Rica, called Arenal. It was located on the edge of Lake Arenal, a small lake at the time.  The town was also near a volcano that erupted in 1968 and still occasionally spews lava and rocks.  Then in 1979, the ICE (Costa Rican Electricity Institution), developed a plan to build a dam on what is now the eastern end of Lake Arenal.  Their plan was to create a hydroelectric project to produce energy for Costa Rica.  After the process, the lake would be increased to three times its old size.

Local park's mural depiction of the original Arenal

But, other than the cost, the only other problem was the town of Arenal.  If they built the dam, then the town of Arenal would be in one of the deepest parts of the lake.  But they built it anyway.  So, before expanding the lake, the government had to relocate all of the people that lived in the town.  Even so, some of the people with houses that had belonged to their families for many generations, refused to evacuate their homes until the water of the lake reached their doorsteps.  There was also another town called Tronadora that was on the edge of the lake that got submerged, as well as numerous farms and homes.

An old town lies below

Today, there is a town called Nuevo Arenal that replaced the old town of Arenal and was where people were relocated.  Still submerged under 200 feet of water, lies the town that was once home to many people.  Sometimes when the water is low, the steeple of the old church sticks out above the surface of the lake, a reminder of what lies beneath Lake Arenal.