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Guyana Hydrology
Guyana is a water-rich country. The numerous rivers flow into
the Atlantic Ocean, generally in a northward direction. A number of
rivers in the western part of the country, however, flow eastward
into the Essequibo River, draining the Kaieteur Plateau. The
Essequibo, the country's major river, runs from the Brazilian
border in the south to a wide delta west of Georgetown. The rivers
of eastern Guyana cut across the coastal zone, making east-west
travel difficult, but they also provide limited water access to the
interior. Waterfalls generally limit water transport to the lower
reaches of each river. Some of the waterfalls are spectacular; for
example, Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River drops 226 meters, more
than four times the height of Niagara Falls.
Drainage throughout most of Guyana is poor and river flow
sluggish because the average gradient of the main rivers is only
one meter every five kilometers. Swamps and areas of periodic
flooding are found in all but the mountainous regions, and all new
land projects require extensive drainage networks before they are
suitable for agricultural use. The average square kilometer on a
sugar plantation, for example, has six kilometers of irrigation
canals, eighteen kilometers of large drains, and eighteen
kilometers of small drains. These canals occupy nearly one-eighth
of the surface area of the average sugarcane field. Some of the
larger estates have more than 550 kilometers of canals; Guyana
itself has a total of more than 8,000 kilometers. Even Georgetown
is below sea level and must depend on dikes for protection from the
Demerara River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Data as of January 1992
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