Macal River

Macal
	Macal River in Belize
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)

Last updated April 21, 2019

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 to the Belize River. There are several tributaries to the Macal River including the following streams: Privassion, Rio On, Rio Frio, Mollejon and Cacao Camp.

A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague.

Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the first-most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio.

Belize is a country located on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the northwest by Mexico, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by Guatemala. It has an area of 22,970 square kilometres (8,867 sq mi) and a population of 387,879 (2017). Its mainland is about 180 mi (290 km) long and 68 mi (110 km) wide. It has the lowest population and population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2015) is the second highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.

The size of the Macal River catchment basin is approximately 1492 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.

The Maya Mountains are a mountain range located in Belize and eastern Guatemala, in Central America.

The Mopan River is a river in Central America spanning the Petén Department of Guatemala and the Cayo District of Belize. It merges with the Macal River at Branch Mouth, Belize, forming the Belize River, which ultimately discharges to the Caribbean Sea. The drainage area of the combined watershed is 9,434.2 km² (3,642.6 sq mi). Tributaries of the Mopan include Chiquibul Branch, Ceiba Grande, Salisipuedes, and Delores.

The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Stann Creek District of south-central Belize. It was established to protect the forests, fauna and watersheds of an approximately 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi) area of the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains.

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.

A canoe is a lightweight narrow vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel using a single-bladed paddle.

Hydrology

Looking upriver in the lower Macal River. Schaamacal2.jpg — Looking upriver in the lower Macal River.

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, Chaa Creek and Cacao Camp. In the lower catchment basin, there is considerable overland friction to surface runoff due to the dense terrestrial detrititus and understory on the forest floor, even though the forest canopy itself is sometimes sparse. The retarded runoff of this lower sub-watershed allows the rapid peak runoff of the upper watershed to overtake the flow within Mountain Pine Ridge, forming an effective single massive peak wave, which exacerbates downstream flooding in the Belize River, and, in fact, controls the flood stage of the larger Belize River.^[1] This effect of simultaneous peak flow is further enhanced by the radial geometry of the lower Macal Basin tributaries, encouraging all sub-basin flow to reach the mainstem at approximately the same time.

Chaa Creek is a tributary of the Macal River in the Cayo District in western Belize. One of the official gauging stations of the Macal is located near the confluence with Chaa Creek.

In forestry and ecology, understory comprises plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but above the forest floor. Only a small percentage of light penetrates the canopy so understory vegetation is generally shade tolerant. The understory typically consists of trees stunted through lack of light, other small trees with low light requirements, saplings, shrubs, vines and undergrowth. Small trees such as holly and dogwood are understory specialists.

Ecology

Lower Macal watershed. Tchaacrmacal.jpg — Lower Macal watershed.

The Macal River winds through large expanses of primary and secondary growth broadleaf tropical forest, including a substantial tract of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve and National Park^[3] The watershed consists of closed canopy upland forests as well as a fertile floodplain, which is often overgrown with dense jungle vegetation trailing into the verges of the river itself. Considerable biodiversity is found within the Macal River catchment basin, including megafauna, avafauna, fish, reptiles, amphibians, as well as smaller mammals, arthropods and plants.^[4]

Tropical forests are forested landscapes in tropical regions: i.e. land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.

Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is typically a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near the equator, which is the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics. These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 percent of earth's surface, and contain about 90 percent of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future.

In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are large or giant animals. The most common thresholds used are weight over 40 kilograms (90 lb) or 44 kilograms (100 lb) or over a tonne, 1,000 kilograms (2,205 lb). The first of these include many species not popularly thought of as overly large, such as white-tailed deer and red kangaroo.

The Macal watershed is habitat to over a dozen rare and endangered species.^{[ citation needed ]} Two Important threatened megafauna found here are the jaguar, Panthera onca, and Belize's largest land animal, Baird's tapir, Tapirus bairdii, which is also the national animal of Belize.

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 Chalillo Hydroelectric Dam was completed on the river in 2005 by Fortis Inc., the Canadian owner of the national electrical utility, about 33 km (21 mi) south of San Ignacio, Belize.^[6] The construction generated controversy over its effect on the surrounding rain forest.^[7]

Prehistory

Original Mayan bowl discovered in the Macal River lower watershed. Schaamaya.jpg — Original Mayan bowl discovered in the Macal River lower watershed.

The lower portions of the Macal Watershed were extensively occupied by the ancient Maya. Several regional habitations are identifiable, including the Cahal Pech site and the unexcavated site at Chaa Creek.^[8] These sites were centroids for larger farming populations, and are deemed to be satellite cities that may have been under the influence of Tikal or Caracol. The Mayan urban society collapsed in this watershed in the ninth century AD, likely related to the exhaustion of agricultural resources, or reaching of the limited carrying capacity of this region of nutrient poor soils, with possible aggravation of social factors.

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 lightshafts 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 canoe trips to San Ignacio. Except for the peak flow periods of June to October, it is feasible to canoe upstream against the current in this reach. There are several rapids in the lower reach, but overall canoeing difficulty is only moderate. There is a replica working Mayan farm and a morpho butterfly preserve as well as a small Mayan museum in the lower watershed on the western side of the Macal River.

Related Research Articles

San Ignacio and Santa Elena are towns in western Belize. San Ignacio serves as the cultural-economic hub of Cayo District. It got its start from mahogany and chicle production during British colonialism. Over time it attracted people from the surrounding areas, which led to the diverse population of the town today. San Ignacio is the largest settlement in Cayo District and the second largest in the country, after Belize City.

A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. The drainage basin includes all the surface water from rain runoff, snowmelt, and nearby streams that run downslope towards the shared outlet, as well as the groundwater underneath the earth's surface. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at lower elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins, which in turn drain into another common outlet.

The Pudding River is a 62-mile (100 km) tributary of the Molalla River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its drainage basin covers 528 square miles (1,368 km²). Among its tributaries are Silver Creek, Butte Creek, Abiqua Creek, and the Little Pudding River.

The San Juan River is a major tributary of the Colorado River in the southwestern United States, providing the chief drainage for the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Originating as snowmelt in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, it flows 383 miles (616 km) through the deserts of northern New Mexico and southeastern Utah to join the Colorado River at Glen Canyon. The river drains a high, arid region of the Colorado Plateau and along its length it is often the only significant source of fresh water for many miles. The San Juan is also one of the muddiest rivers in North America, carrying an average of 25 million US tons of silt and sediment each year.

The Lackawanna River is a 40.8-mile-long (65.7 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. It starts in north Wayne County, Pennsylvania and ends in east Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in Duryea, Pennsylvania. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urban areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenni Lenape word meaning "stream that forks".

The Malheur River is a 190-mile-long (306 km) tributary of the Snake River in eastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a high desert area, between the Harney Basin and the Blue Mountains and the Snake.

The Belize River runs 290 kilometres (180 mi) through the center of Belize. It drains more than one-quarter of the country as it winds along the northern edge of the Maya Mountains to the sea just north of Belize City. The Belize river valley is largely tropical rain forest.

The Pack River is a medium-sized river located in Northern Idaho. It is about 40 miles (64 km) long and drains a high mountainous area of the Idaho Panhandle's Rocky Mountains and Selkirk Mountains. The river flows into Lake Pend Oreille and is part of the Columbia River watershed via the Pend Oreille River.

The main European watershed is the drainage divide ("watershed") which separates the basins of the rivers that empty into the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea from those that feed the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. It stretches from the tip of the Iberian Peninsula at Gibraltar in the southwest to the endorheic basin of the Caspian Sea in Russia in the northeast.

The Upper Truckee River is a stream that flows northward from the western slope of Red Lake Peak in Alpine County, California to Lake Tahoe via the Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe, California. The river flows northeasterly and is 23 miles (37 km) long. It is Lake Tahoe's largest tributary.

Belize Botanic Gardens (BBG) is 45 acres (18 ha) of native and exotic plants growing in the Cayo district of western Belize. The garden is in a valley on the banks of the Macal River, surrounded by the Maya Mountain foothills.

Monkey River is a coastal watercourse in southern Belize that rises in the Maya Mountains and discharges to the Caribbean Sea near Monkey River Town. One of Belize's major rivers, Monkey River has northern headwaters which originate in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, where the Swasey Branch drains the East Basin of that wildlife sanctuary. Further south, the Bladen Branch watercourse drains the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains including the ancient Mayan settlement areas of Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit. These two watercourses join to form the Monkey River approximately 16 kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Monkey River. The Monkey River is readily navigated throughout the year using small boats, but navigation above the major confluence becomes more difficult due to lack of depth when the dry season starts about February. Habitats in this watershed provide cover for such diverse species as the ocelot, jaguar, Guatemalan black howler, bare-throated tiger heron, Morelet's crocodile, fer-de-lance and manatee.

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is a nature reserve in the Cayo District of southern central Belize. It was established in 1944 to protect and manage the native Belizean pine forests. Its boundaries are poorly defined, but it is estimated to cover an area of 106,352.5 acres (430 km²), although much of the reserve has been leased.

San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a 29-mile (47 km) long stream in Orange County, California, draining a watershed of 133.9 square miles (347 km²). Its mainstem begins in the southern Santa Ana Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest. It winds west and south through San Juan Canyon, and is joined by Arroyo Trabuco as it passes through San Juan Capistrano. It flows into the Pacific Ocean at Doheny State Beach. San Juan Canyon provides a major part of the route for California State Route 74.

Bladen Nature Reserve is a landscape of caves, sinkholes, pristine streams and rivers, undisturbed old growth rainforest and an abundance of highly diverse flora and fauna which includes a great deal of rare and endemic species.

Solomon Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 8.8 miles (14.2 km) long and flows through Fairview Township, Hanover Township, and Wilkes-Barre. The creek is affected by acid mine drainage and has significant loads of iron, aluminum, and manganese. The creek's named tributaries are Spring Run, Sugar Notch Run, and Pine Creek. The Solomon Creek watershed is located in the Anthracite Valley section of the ridge-and-valley geographical province. Major rock formations in the watershed include the Mauch Chunk Formation, the Spechty Kopf Formation, and the Catskill Formation.

Dalmatia Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 2.8 miles (4.5 km) long and flows through Lower Mahanoy Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of 2.80 square miles (7.3 km²). The creek has no named tributaries, but several unnamed ones. Both it and its tributaries are designated as impaired waterbodies due to sedimentation/siltation from crop-related agriculture and vegetation removal. Streambank erosion also occurs in the watershed. The creek is in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province.

References

1 2 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

Coordinates: 17°10′30″N89°04′50″W / 17.1750°N 89.0806°W / 17.1750; -89.0806

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[Wagenseil-1] 1 2 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

[2] U.S. Embassy in Belize: Database Archived 2007-04-08 at the Wayback Machine

[3] Natural Resources Defense Counsel: Macal River Dam

[4] C.M. Hogan, Ecology and Mayan History of the Macal River Watershed, Lumina technologies, January, 2007

[5] Belize National Parks, Natural Reserves, and Wildlife Sanctuaries: Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve

[6] Sarah Bradshaw, "Amid utilities' plan, a dam controversy", Poughkeepsie Record-Journal, June 8, 2013

[7] 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

[8] C.Michael Hogan, Chaa Creek Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, 2007