Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
Haiti has a large number of streams that carry torrential
flows during the wet season and slow to a trickle in the dry season.
Streams tend to be short and swift flowing because of the
narrow peninsulas and numerous mountain ridges. Five rivers
generate most of the country's water catchment: the Artibonite,
Grande-Anse, L'Estere, Trois Rivieres, and Cavaillon. The
Artibonite is the largest drainage system in the country. Its
headwaters are the Libon River in the foothills of the Massif du
Nord. The Libon crosses the border into the Dominican
Republic and then forms part of the border before reentering
Haiti as the Artibonite River. At the border, the river expands
into the Lac de Peligre formed by a dam in the southern part
of the Central Plateau. Peligre Dam, constructed in 1956, is the
country's major hydroelectric facility. The Artibonite drains
some 10,000 square kilometers, including 6,570 square kilometers
in Haiti. The 400-kilometer river is only one meter deep
during the dry season and may dry up completely in certain
spots. During the wet season, it is more than three meters deep
and subject to flooding.
The 150-kilometer Trois Rivieres is the most important river
in the northern region. It has an average width of sixty meters,
and is three to four meters deep. The ninety-five-kilometer
Guayamouco River flowing through the Central Plateau is one
of the principal tributaries of the Artibonite River. It has an
average width of sixty meters and a depth of three to four
meters. The most prominent body of water in the southern tier
of the country is the Etang Saumatre in the Plaine du Cul-de-
Sac. A brackish lake that is gradually becoming less salty, it has
an elevation sixteen meters above sea level and is twenty kilometers
long and six to fourteen kilometers wide.
Haiti lies within the Low Subtropical Region at 18 to 20
degrees North latitude. The Holdridge Life Zone Classification
System identifies nine subtropical life zones in Haiti: Thorn
Woodlands, Dry Forest, Moist Forest, Wet Forest, Rain Forest,
Lower Montane Moist Forest, Lower Montane Wet Forest,
Lower Montane Rain Forest, and Montane Wet Forest. The
Moist Forest, filled by growths of mahogany and tropical oaks,
is the most commonly represented natural life zone. Temperatures
are almost always high in lowland areas, ranging from
15°C to 25°C in the winter months and 25°C to 35°C during the
summer.
The period from December through February is generally a
dry season with little or no rainfall. Most of the country has a
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