Fitches Creek (river)

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Fitches Creek
Data
location Antigua ( Antigua and Barbuda ), Caribbean
River system Fitches Creek
Drain over Fitches Creek Bay  → North Sound  → Caribbean Sea
River basin district 3/5 Fitches Creek
muzzle at Fitches Creek coordinates: 17 ° 7 ′ 17 ″  N , 61 ° 47 ′ 6 ″  W 17 ° 7 ′ 17 ″  N , 61 ° 47 ′ 6 ″  W.
Mouth height 0  m 

Catchment area 10.4 km²
Reservoirs flowed through several reservoirs in the catchment area
Communities St. John , St. George
Estuarine Estuary in Fitches Creek Bay ( Atlantic Coast) Important Bird Area

The Fitches Creek is a stream of the Caribbean island of Antigua , in the state of Antigua and Barbuda . Although only a few kilometers long, it is one of the main rivers on the small island.

Run and landscape

Fitches Creek drains the area east of the capital Saint John’s to the North Sound , the Atlantic northeast coast of Antigua.

It is formed by several channels that come from the Potters and Piggotts area east of Saint John's and from the Sea View Farm area in the Central Central Plain north of All Saints , and are located at Lightfoot and Sugar Factory (Gunthorbes) , directly west of the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium , Unite. About 2 kilometers further north, southeast of Fitches Creek and west of the Blackman's Point peninsula , the creek flows into the southern Fitches Creek Bay , an inner side bay of the North Sound.

Hydrography, use and conservation

With a catchment area of ​​10.4 km², the Fitches Creek catchment area ( No. 3/5 ) is the fifth largest on the island. There are several medium-sized reservoirs that ensure agricultural irrigation: The island of Antigua - unlike the other Caribbean islands - suffers from drought and is repeatedly hit by severe droughts. After the catchment area Bethesda (No. 47, on Willoughby Bay) with the Bethesda Dam , Fitches Creek is the second best developed water area for agriculture. The total storage volume in the area is over 410,000 m³ (Bethseda Reservoir: 537,000 m³), ​​which is 1 ⁄ 4 of the island's stored irrigation supply (1.5 million m³).

The estuarine Estuary of Fitches Creek today is still a largely natural state wetland, and is known for bird life. It belongs to the Important Bird Area Fitches Creek Bay  (AG007) described by BirdLife International , a Fitches Creek Protected Area (onA) - together with the northern mouth of the Winthorpes Foot Creek - has been proposed, a legal implementation of a protected area is pending .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Genivar Trinidad & Tobago; Ivor Jackson and Associates, Kingdome Consultants Inc. (Assoc.): Sustainable Island Resource Management Zoning Plan for Antigua and Barbuda (including Redonda) . Port of Spain December 2011, 3.2.1.2 Hydrological Units - Watersheds, Aquifers and Freshwater Reservoirs , p. 28 ff . ( ab.gov.ag [PDF; accessed on March 9, 2014] there p. 46 ff, especially Figure 3.8 - Map showing Major Watersheds (Antigua) - Source of map: ESAL, 2008 and Table 3.2 - Existing Storage Volumes of Major Watersheds in Antigua ). ab.gov.ag ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ab.gov.ag
  2. ↑ a b c d e The Technical Advisory Committee - UNCCD (Ed.): United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification: National Action Plan for Antigua & Barbuda . April 2005, 2.1.4. Watershed management , p. 28 ff . ( unccd.int [PDF; accessed on March 9, 2014] there p. 36 ff. [Draft], i. A. The Environment Division - Ministry of Public Works and Environment). unccd.int ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unccd.int
  3. ^ A b c The Caribbean Conservation Association - CCA (Ed.): Antigua and Barbuda - Country environmental profile . St. Michael (Barbados) 1991, chapter 2.2 Freshwater resources and watersheds , p. 58 , col. 2 ff . ( usaid.gov [PDF; 10.6 MB ] there p. 79 ff; especially Figure 2.2 (3). - Watersheds of Antigua (source: McMillan, 1985) , p. 62 and Table 2.2 (2). - Antigua watsrsheds with storage capacity estimates for existing and proposed agricultural and municipal water supplies , p. 61. i. A. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda - Historical, Conservation, and Environmental Commission).
  4. ↑ a b 3 according to McMillan (1985); 5 according to ESAL (2008); UNCCD 2005 gives 3 North Sound
    J. McMillan: Evaluation of agricultural water supplies in Antigua and Barbuda. OAS - Dept. of Reg. Dev., Washington DC 1985.
    Environmental Solutions, Antigua Limited: Integrated Watershed Management for the Environmental Division. August 2008.
  5. ↑ a b according to local understanding, the Antiguan east coast is considered "Atlantic"; the International Hydrographic Organization  (IHO) defines the Caribbean-Atlantic coast along the 100-fathom line (approx. 180 m), which lies a few nautical miles from Antigua. International Hydrographic Organization (Ed.): Limits of oceans and seas . 3. Edition. Special publication, no. 23 . Imp.Monégasque, Monte-Carlo 1953, 27. - Caribbean Sea, p. 14th f . (English, iho-ohi.net [PDF] there p. 16.).
  6. ↑ Due to the lack of central volcanic mountains, both of the old islands, which are geologically relative to the Antilles, have no orographic cloud and little accumulation of precipitation .
  7. ↑ Potworks (No. 1) with the large Potworks Dam provides drinking water.
  8. ^ AG007 Fitches Creek Bay. Site profile. In: birdlife.org> Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs). BirdLife International, accessed February 28, 2014 .