Агуас-Буэнас: Город чистых вод и природные сокровища Пуэрто-Рико

Town and municipality in Puerto Rico
the Puerto Rican municipality

Aguas Buenas, (ˈaɣwas ˈβwenas, ), popularly known as "La Ciudad de las Aguas Claras" or "The City of Clear Waters", is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range, north of Cidra, south of Bayamón, Guaynabo and San Juan; east of Comerio; and north west of Caguas. Aguas Buenas is spread over 9 barrios and Aguas Buenas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan Caguas Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The name Aguas Buenas translates to "good waters". The town's and municipality's original names were Aguabuena ("good water"), originally a barrio or district of Caguas, and Aguas Claras ("clear waters"). These names and some of the municipality's nicknames such as Ciudad de las Aguas Claras ("city of clear waters") and Oasis de Puerto Rico ("Puerto Rico's oasis") are a reference to the number of natural water springs that can be found in the municipality, particularly those founds around the Aguas Buenas Cave and Caverns System Nature Reserve (Spanish: Reserva Natural Sistema de Cuevas y Cavernas de Aguas Buenas). In addition to aguasbonenses, citizens and residents of Aguas Buenas are often referred to as Mulos ("mules") or Ñocos ("amputees").

Aguas Buenas was originally a sector of Caguas known as Aguabuena. In 1798, a group of residents started establishing their houses near some of the rivers in the area and started calling the sector Aguas Claras. The quantity of residents incremented with time and on July 25, 1832, they organized a meeting and commissioned Francisco de Salas Torres and Ramón Díaz to do the necessary arrangements for the region to be declared a municipality. A resident, Julian López, offered part of his estate to be used for the construction of a town square, a church, the city hall, and the priest house. The town was officially founded on May 25, 1838, and the name was changed to Aguas Buenas. Francisco de Salas Torres was declared the first mayor. Initially, the economy of the town relied on coffee plantations and commerce. At the end of the 19th century, the town's population was close to 7,000. In 1906, mayor Don José E. Morales bought nearly six acres of terrain from Don Guillermo Díaz Delgado. In these lands, the sectors of La Pajilla, El Pueblito and El Guanábano were established, expanding the town's area. The epicenter of the 2010 Aguas Buenas earthquake, popularly known as the Nochebuena Earthquake, was centered between the barrios Juan Asencio, Mulita and Sonadora. Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Aguas Buenas with the significant amount of rainfall. Between1,000 and 3,000 homes in Aguas Buenas were destroyed or suffered significant damage as a result of the hurricane. A year after the hurricane struck, many older residents refused to leave their damaged homes and continued to live in their homes, without a reconstructed roof, but with a blue tarp for a roof. The hurricane winds and rain damaged infrastructure and caused the entire electrical system to collapse.

The terrain is moderately mountainous located in the northern edge of the Cayey mountain range (Sierra de Cayey), part of the Cordillera Central in Puerto Rico. The highest peaks are La Peña, Santa Bárbara, La Tisa, and La Marquesa.

Several rivers flow through Aguas Buenas. Some of them are the Bayamón River, and several small rivers that are part of the Río Grande de Loíza, like Bairoa, Caguitas, and Cañas.

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) are further subdivided into smaller areas called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.

Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Aguas Buenas: Vázquez neighborhood, Las Parcelas in Bayamoncito barrio, Sonadora barrio, Cagüitas Centro, Pajilla sector in Centro Urbano, Jagüeyes Abajo, Las Corujas, and Parcelas Santa Clara in Sumidero barrio.

Aguas Buenas has an amateur baseball team called Los Tigres de Aguas Buenas.

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Aguas Buenas is Javier García Pérez, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected at the 2016 general elections. However, on May 5, 2022, García Pérez was arrested by the FBI on corruption, bribery, and extortion charges. and was subsequently removed from his position. Since 2011, the city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district I, which is represented by two Senators. In 2012, José Nadal Power and Ramón Luis Nieves were elected as District Senators.

The municipio has an official flag and coat of arms.

The flag of Aguas Buenas features a blue triangle with the base at the hoist. The triangle has a solitary white star, like the national banner. A second triangle appears interposed with the first one, in yellow, with its point reaching the other end of the flag. The main field of the flag, under both triangles, is color green.

Designed by Francisco Diaz Rivera in 1975, the coat of arms features a four paneled shield. The upper left panel shows the Virgin of Monserrate, while the upper right panel features a Taíno, a symbol of the original inhabitants of this region. At the bottom right panel, lies a cornucopia containing the native fruit of Aguas Buenas. This panel represents how the agriculture was the primary source of income for the town. In the lower left panel, there are four maracas and a güicharo, typical instruments of the "jibaros" of Aguas Buenas and Puerto Rico. The crown, as with other municipalities of Puerto Rico, consists of three towers.

To reach the town of Aguas Buenas, visitors must take the Puerto Rico Highway 52 to the city of Caguas. From there, PR 156 leads directly into the downtown square. Other minor roads lead to nearby towns such as Comerío. There are 13 bridges in Aguas Buenas.