Rivière La Quinte (Spanish: Rio La Quinta; English: The Fifth River), also called Grande Rivière des Gonaïves (English: Gonaives Great River), is a river in Artibonite, Haiti. It joins the bay of Gonaïves and the Gulf of Gonâve downstream from the city of Gonaïves.
About[]
Its waters sometimes invade the streets of the city in their outbursts in rainy weather. When the Ravine du Roi (King's Ravine) overflows, Laquinte leaves its bed and invades the city. The Labranle river with its tributaries, the Chemin Neuf river, the Petite Riviere des Gonaives, and the Croix river join their waters and are called at the Laquinte junction because of its capricious course. It provides an average of 8 liters (2 gallons) per second. Its course is 88 kilometers (55 miles).
Geography[]
The La Quinte river has its source in the foothills of the Massif du Nord. The stream heads west, then southwest and flows downstream to the port city of Gonaïves which it crosses before flowing into the Gulf of Gonâve via the bay of Gonaïves.
The La Quinte river receives the waters of several important tributaries; the Bayonnais river, the Ennery river, the Tête source river and the La Branle river. During cyclones, such as Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 (3,000 dead in Gonaïves), severe flooding occured due to heavy precipitation and the ensuing floods. The damage and the importance of the loss of human life forced the government of Haiti to carry out several projects to rehabilitate the Quinte River (Reinforcement of the banks, cleaning up, widening of the bed, canalization, etc.) and reforestation in order to slow down the soil erosion in the northern massif.
A topographic map interpreting the boundaries of the La Quinte watershed.
References[]
La Quinte River [1]