The Artibonite River (French: Rivière Artibonite; Spanish: Rio Artibonito) is a 320 km (200 mile) long river in Haiti. It is the longest as well as the most important river in Haiti and the longest on the island of Hispaniola. Forming part of the international border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the river's sources are in the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic, however most of its length lies in Haiti. The river empties into the Gulf of Gonâve.
Artibonite River
About[]
The river is the namesake for the surrounding Artibonite Valley and Haiti's Artibonite Department. The river is used for irrigation and the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam situated on it produces Haiti's supply of hydroelectricity. In October 2010, following a fatal cholera outbreak (the first in generations) in the Haitian headwaters of the river, locals were alerted that drinking untreated water from this river may spread the disease.
Tributaries[]
Along its course, the river receives the waters of several tributaries including:
• Rivière Blanche (right)
• Boucan Carré River (right)
• Estère River (right)
• Fer à Cheval River (left)
• Gascogne River (left)
• Guayamouc River (left)
• Libon River (right)
• Rivière Lociane (right)
• Macasia River (left)
• Thomonde River (left)
• La Thème River (left)
• La Tombe River (left)
Rivière Naranjo is a tributary river of the Artibonite, situated prior to the Laporte River and the Rio Canas.
The Matayaya River of the Dominican Republic joins the Rio Canas before flowing into the Artibonite. It waters the superb and beautiful valley of San Tome.
Between the Morne de la Tranquillité and its mouth, the Artibonite has 93.5 kilometers of length, thanks to its numerous detours, and in a straight line 35 kilometers.
Facilities[]
Artibonite is used for irrigation, and also produces 25% of the country's electricity through the Péligre hydroelectric dam which gave birth to the lake of the same name.
A second hydroelectric dam, dubbed "Artibonite 4C", with 32 megawatts, was developed by the Brazilians, at a total cost of US $200 million. It required the construction of a retention basin which will extend over more than 400 hectares of cultivated land in Mirebalais and Boucan-Carré, but will allow more than 1,500 hectares of cultivated land to be irrigated.
References[]
Artibonite River [1]