The Mahaica River is a small river in northern

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

that drains into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The village of

Mahaica Mahaica is a village located in region 4 of Demerara-Mahaica in Guyana. Mahaica is often used as a subregion for the adjoining villages near the Mahaica River like Hand-en-Veldt, Good Hope, Chelsey Park, and Jonestown The Peoples Temple A ...

is found at its mouth. It is one of Guyana's principal coastal streams that also forms a rough border between the Demerara-Mahaica region and the Mahaica-Berbice region. The extent of brackish water that has made its way inland has been recorded at 12 miles. The estimated flow in cubic ft. per second is 1,700 (wet season) and 700 (dry season). The origin of the Mahaica is difficult to trace because its upper watersheds overlap with the lower watersheds of the Demerara and Berbice rivers. The river breaks off into smaller tributaries making it seem "boundless."

Wildlife

The river is a well known bird-watching site, as well as home to other wildlife including river otters, howler monkeys and the Canje Pheasant, Guyana's national bird. 150 species of birds can be found along the Mahaica River.

Economy

Farming is the predominant human use of the lower reaches of the river. Rice is the main crop. The river is prone to flooding. Bellamy canal was dug in 1954 to connect Mahaica to the Mahaicony River, as a conservancy for the regulation of the river discharge to avoid flooding in the coastal plain rather than the traditional structure of empoldering small ‘islands’ of land. The Rutherford Canal connects Mahaica to Broom Hall. Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority was formed in 1978 as a semi-autonomous agency for encouraging sustainable agricultural development between the Berbice and Mahaica Rivers. Its purpose was to be the executing agency for construction of all drainage and irrigation works in Mahaica-Berbice on the north-eastern Atlantic seacoast.

Hope Canal The East Demerara Water Conservancy-Northern Relief Channel, better known locally as the Hope Canal, is one of Guyana's largest drainage projects. Construction was from 2011 to November 9, 2013 at a cost of around GYD$3.6 billion. Hope Canal was d ...

was built to alleviate flooding by redistributing water into the Mahaica. It was conceived after the major

2005 Georgetown flood The 2005 Georgetown flood (also referred to as the Great Flood) was a major flood in and around Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. It started during heavy rains in 2004, and came to a head in January, when sustained heavy rains and high tides ov ...

. When the

East Demerara Water Conservancy The East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) is one of Guyana's major water storage and flood control facilities. Over 500,000 residents inhabit the basin that lies below and between the sea wall and the EDWC Dam in a 48 km band from Georget ...

is at capacity, Lama and Maduni sluices release water into the Mahaica River. In 2011, a boulder wall was built to protect agriculture from flooding during high tides. In 2020, plans for a luxury mega-project along the river was announced.

Settlements

St. Cuthbert's Mission is a major Amerindian community on the river.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Guyana

Wildlife

Economy

Settlements

See also

References