The Mopan River is a river in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

spanning the

Petén Department Petén is a department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores. The population at the mid-2018 o ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and the

Cayo District Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the 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. Geography Being ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. It merges with the

Macal River The Macal River is a river running through Cayo District in western Belize. Sites along the river include the ancient Maya civilization, Mayan town of Cahal Pech and the Belize Botanic Gardens. The Macal River discharges to the Belize River. The ...

at Branch Mouth, Belize, forming the

Belize River The Belize River runs 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 ...

, which ultimately discharges to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. The drainage area of the combined watershed is . Tributaries of the Mopan include Chiquibul Branch, Ceiba Grande, Salisipuedes, and Delores.

Hydrology

The Mopan River's rate of discharge has been measured regularly since 1981 at the river gauge station in Benque Viejo, Belize. According to these measurements, the river's annual mean discharge varies between 20 and 40 m³/s. The highest rate ever recorded was 404 m³/s in November 1990. Although the Mopan may contribute to downstream flooding during the rainy season, it responds much slower to rain storms than the other major tributary of the Belize River, the Macal. Both rivers yield similar volumes on average, but the Mopan watershed is less mountainous than the Macal watershed, giving it less intense flood waves.

Pollution

The combined Mopan River/Belize River watershed contains 11% of the population of the Peten District in Guatemala and 45% of the population of Belize.Jes Karper and Ed Boles, ''Human Impact Mapping of the Mopan and Chiquibul Rivers within Guatemala and Belize (2003)
These populations depend on the river for drinking water and other domestic uses; however,

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

is degraded from

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

loading, untreated

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...

discharge,

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

s and other toxins. The major source of degradation is the extensive

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

in the upper reaches and non-

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

. Karper and Boles have asserted: "The greater Mopan/Belize River Catchment provides a prime example of a watershed under stress from extensive non-sustainable agricultural practices that have occurred within the region over the past three decades."

Slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

agricultural practices by native peoples are contributing to such watershed degradation.

Maya sites

Several important

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

sites are situated along the Mopan River. From upriver to downriver, these include

Ucanal Ucanal is an archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization. It is located near the source of the Belize River in the Petén department of present-day northern Guatemala. Location Ucanal is located inside a bend of the Mopan River. It is a ...

, Arenal,

Xunantunich Xunantunich () is an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 70 miles (110 km) west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala border ...

, Actuncan, and

Buenavista del Cayo Buenavista may refer to: Colombia *Buenavista, Boyacá, a municipality in the department of Boyacá * Buenavista, Córdoba, a municipality in the department of Córdoba * Buenavista, Sucre, a municipality in the department of Sucre *Buenavista, ...

. Several of these sites and associated settlement areas have been studied as part of the Mopan Valley Archaeology Project. Archaeological surveys have identified the remains of several hundred ancient structures in these areas, with the highest density occurring in the area near Xunantunich.

Recreation

Popular activities on the Mopan River include

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and river tubing.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Rivers of Belize Rivers of Guatemala Belize River International rivers of North America