Macal River
Macal | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Belize |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Maya Mountains |
• elevation | 953 m (3,127 ft) (Cooma Cairn) |
Mouth | |
• location | Belize River |
Length | 320 km (200 mi) |
Basin size | 1,492 km2 (576 sq mi) |
The Macal River is a river running through Cayo District in western Belize. Sites along the river include the ancient Mayan town of Cahal Pech and the Belize Botanic Gardens. The Macal River discharges into the Belize River. There are several tributaries to the Macal River including the following streams: Privassion, Rio On, Rio Frio, Mollejon and Cacao Camp.
The size of the Macal River catchment basin is approximately 1,492 square kilometers. The Macal River rises in a rugged portion of the Maya Mountains and flows in a northerly direction where it joins with the Mopan River to form the Belize River. Lying to the east of the Macal River Basin is the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, the premier sanctuary established specifically for conservation of the jaguar.
Due to the steep terrain of the headwaters region and the high rainfall of the upper Macal Basin, the Macal River is subject to rapid stage height rise, contributing significantly to the downstream flooding of the Belize River.[1] By legend, the river is named after a beautiful young girl Macall, an uncommon name.[citation needed] The lower river is navigated year-around with canoes.
Hydrology
The Macal Rivershed is divided into two sub catchment basins. The headwaters and upper basin comprise about 1000 square kilometers and rest in the southern Maya Mountains, whilst the lower basin is known as the Mountain Pine Ridge catchment. The soils in the upper watershed tend to be shallow and rocky, leading to rapid runoff. All of the upper catchment tributaries join the mainstem channel considerably before Guacamayo, the approximate join point of the two connecting sub-sheds of the Macal River. Peak flows follow the rainy season of June to August, with tailing rains until February; lowest flows are in the dry season from March to May.[2]
For the lower Macal River catchment (or Mountain Pine Ridge area), tributary streams are arranged radially to feed the mainstem; principal lower basin rivers are the Privassion, Rio On, Rio Frio, Mollejon,
Ecology
The Macal River winds through large expanses of primary and secondary growth broadleaf
The Macal
There is abundant birdlife in the Macal Basin; for example, in the Mountain Pine Ridge sub-watershed alone are found: the rufous-capped warbler, crossbill, pine siskin and eastern bluebird. Between autumn and spring, the hepatic tanager and chipping sparrow are also evident. Raptors hunt among the valleys of Mountain Pine Ridge, and affords the most probable location in Belize to observe the orange-breasted falcon.[5]
Dam
The
Prehistory
The lower portions of the Macal Watershed were extensively occupied by the ancient
Ecotourism
Whilst the highest reaches of the watershed are only accessible to the most hardy of hikers, the Mountain Pine Ridge area is available to travellers by auto (not bus). Most of the recreation in this reach is within the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, a national Park of Belize. In addition to hiking trails into the wilderness, this reach is the location of Belize's largest limestone caverns, which allow subsurface exploration by tube flotation on the clear aquifers which are illuminated by occasional vertical light shafts reaching the surface. The most extensive of these aqueous caverns is the Rio Frio area.
In the lowest reach there are a number of jungle resorts which offer access to the banks of the Macal for flotation or
See also
References
- ^ a b Ross Wagenseil, Investigations of the Belize River: Modeling Flow Overland to the Macal Tributary, Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project: Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment, Organisation of American States, Washington, DC, November, 1999
- ^ U.S. Embassy in Belize: Database Archived 2007-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Natural Resources Defense Counsel: Macal River Dam
- ^ C.M. Hogan, Ecology and Mayan History of the Macal River Watershed, Lumina technologies, January, 2007
- ^ Belize National Parks, Natural Reserves, and Wildlife Sanctuaries: Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve
- ^ Sarah Bradshaw, "Amid utilities' plan, a dam controversy", Poughkeepsie Record-Journal, June 8, 2013
- ^ Bruce Barcott, The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird, New York: Random House, 2008
- ^ C.Michael Hogan, Chaa Creek Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, 2007