The island of Giraglia opposite the river mouth to the north of Cap Corse
The Acqua Tignese has a length of 9 kilometres (5.6mi).[1] It has its source in the municipality of Rogliano at an altitude of 500 metres (1,600ft).[2] The source is 200 meters west of Monte di e Castelle (602 metres (1,975ft) high).
The river flows generally from the south to the north of Cap Corse.
It has its mouth on the Ligurian Sea between the municipalities of Ersa and Rogliano.[2] Its mouth is between the port of Barcaggio to the west and the beach of Cala to the east, opposite the island of Giraglia.
The neighboring rivers are to the south, the Luri.
Communes and cantons crossed
The Acqua Tignese crosses four communes in the Haute-Corse department. From upstream to downstream they are Rogliano (source), Morsiglia, Centuri and Ersa (mouth).[1] The Acqua Tignese flows entirely within the former canton of Capobianco in the arrondissement of Bastia.
Watershed
The area of the "Coastal stream of Pietracorbara with Granaggilo included" watershed is 113 square kilometres (44sqmi).[1]
Managing body
The managing body since the Corsican law of 22 January 2002 has been the Corsican Basin Committee (Comité de bassin de Corse).[3]
Tributaries
The Acqua Tignese has no referenced tributaries.[1] The Strahler number is therefore one.
Hydrology
The Acqua Tignese at its mouth, near the port of Barcaggio (Ersa)
An AEP monitoring station in the town of Ersa, at an altitude of 100 metres (330ft) and a catchment area of 4.9 square kilometres (1.9sqmi), studied its hydrology from 1979 to 1999.[4] The average flow was 0.032 cubic metres per second (1.1cuft/s).[4]
Average flow (cubic meters per second) by month for the period 1979 to 1999[4]
Month
Flow
Jan
0.059
Feb
0.052
Mar
0.053
Apr
0.035
May
0.033
Jun
0.016
Jul
0.007
Aug
0.004
Sep
0.006
Oct
0.015
Nov
0.050
Dec
0.052
At low water the VCN3, or minimum flow rate of the watercourse recorded for three consecutive days in a month, in the case of a five-year dry period is 0.001 cubic metres per second (0.035cuft/s) or 1 litre per second (0.035cuft/s).[4]
Over this short observation period, the maximum daily flow was observed on 5 November 1993 at 1.21 cubic metres per second (43cuft/s). The maximum instantaneous flow was observed at 06:31 on 5 November 1993 at 12.21 cubic metres per second (431cuft/s). At that time the maximum instantaneous height was 193 centimetres (76in).[4]
QIX 2 is 1.8 m3/s, QIX 5 is 3.6 m3/s, QIX 10 is 4.8 m3/s and QIX 20 is 5.9 m3/s.[4]
The rainfall in this part of the river's catchment area is 205 millimetres (8.1in) per year, which is a third less than French average of 300 millimetres (12in) per year. The specific flow rate (Qsp) reaches 6.5 liters per second / per square kilometer of basin.[4]
Human presence
Footbridge near the mouth
Since 1979 there has been a project to build a dam on the Acqua Tignese.
The hydraulic problems of the municipalities of the northern part of Cap Corse being more and more worrying, on 21 July 1988, the Corsican Assembly adopted the motion relating to the construction of the Acqua Tignese dam.[5] The Acqua Tignese, "an undisturbed Mediterranean river (the Corsican brook salamander lives in the Acqua Tignese, would this be the case if the dam had been built?)".[6]
A footbridge crosses the river built about fifty meters from its mouth and is used by hikers along the sentier des douaniers and visitors going to the beach of Cala.
Ecology
Cala beach
The Pointe du Cap Corse site of the Conservatoire du littoral, managed by the Association Finocchiarola-Pointe du Cap Corse, adjoins a good part of the lower course of the Acqua Tignese, especially near its mouth.[7]
Fauna
The stagnant, brackish and salty waters of the stream near its mouth are home to many protected animal species, amphibians from the anuran (without a tail) and urodela (with tail) groups: the Corsican fire salamander (Salamandra corsica) marginally present on the coast, and the Corsican brook salamander (Euproctus montanus) which are endemic, the Tyrrhenian painted frog (Discoglossus sardus) and the Sardinian tree frog (Hyla sarda) endemic to Corsica, Sardinia, Capraia and Elbe, the Italian pool frog (Pelophylax bergeri) which is expanding from the Pointe du Cap estuarine marshes into the upper course of the streams, finally the European green toad (Bufotes viridis) of the West Mediterranean which lives mainly on the coast, in the marshes and puddles of back dunes.
The Corsican euprocte lives in Acqua Tignese where adults and larvae take refuge in the basins during the dry season.
Flora
Some twenty-one rare threatened or endemic plants are present in the lagoon of Barcaggio and at the mouth of Acqua Tignese:[8]
Lippia nodiflora: a single locality in France, the Barcaggio lagoon
Cressa cretica very threatened in mainland France, vulnerable in Corsica: lagoon of Barcaggio
Vitex agnus-castus or the chaste tree grows at the mouths of streams. It is in sharp decline in mainland France. The mouth of Acqua Tignese is one of the 3 most beautiful settlements on the island
"Batraciens", Journal de la Pointe du Cap Corse (in French), Association Finocchiarola pour la gestion des espaces naturels de la Pointe du Cap Corse, 2009, retrieved 2021-11-21
Cap Corse (in French), Conservatoire du littoral, retrieved 2021-11-21
Ersa is a commune of the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.
Rogliano is a commune in the French department of Haute-Corse, Corsica.
The Tower of Santa Maria Chjapella is a ruined Genoese tower located in the commune of Rogliano on the east coast of the Corsica. Only part of the tower survives.
The Canton of Cap Corse is an administrative division of the French department of Haute-Corse, Corsica. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in San-Martino-di-Lota.
The Arguenon is a French coastal river in the Côtes-d'Armor department of the Brittany region. It flows into the English Channel.
The Abatesco is a French coastal river which flows through the Haute-Corse department and empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Alesani River is a river in the Haute-Corse department in the island of Corsica, France.
The Regino River is a small coastal river in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France.
The Fango is a small coastal river in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. The Fango Valley was designated a biosphere reserve in 1977. It holds flora and fauna representative of all regions of Corsica from the coast to the highest mountains.
The Luri is a coastal stream in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It flows across the Cap Corse peninsula to the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Erco is a stream in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is a tributary of the Golo.
The Ospedale Reservoir is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. It holds drinking water for the southeast of the island, including Porto-Vecchio. It is surrounded by a forest that has been designated a Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (ZNIEFF).
The Figari Reservoir is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. It provides water for irrigation and human consumption.
Bacciana Reservoir is a reservoir in the Haute-Corse department of France, on the island of Corsica. It supplies water for drinking and irrigation.
Trévadine Reservoir is a reservoir in the Haute-Corse department of France, on the island of Corsica. It stores water for drinking and irrigation, which is fed to reservoirs in the coastal plain.
The Rizzanese is a coastal river in the southwest of department of Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. It is dammed near Sorbollano to form the Rizzanese Reservoir, which stores water for irrigation and supplies the largest hydroelectric power plant in Corsica, with installed capacity of 55 MW. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea near the town of Propriano.
The Chiuvone is a small river in the department of Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. It is a tributary of the river Rizzanese. There is a small hydroelectric power dam on the river.
The Ortolo is a coastal river in the southwest of the department of Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. It is dammed to store water for irrigation.
The Buggiu or Valdolese, Vughio is a small coastal river in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It flows into the Golfe de Saint-Florent in the north of the island. The estuary at its mouth has ecological value.
The Poggiolo is a small coastal stream in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It enters the Tyrrhenian Sea from the east of the Cap Corse peninsula.
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