The Yuna River is the main river in the eastern half of the Dominican breadbasket known as the Cibao Valley. It is the main source of irrigation water for farms in several provinces, mainly Duarte and Maria Trinidad Sanchez. It enters the Bay of Samana after winding through Los Haitises. For this reason, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (Indrhi) has concentrated on refurbishing and cleaning up many of the irrigation canals surrounding the rice harvesting area of Villa Riva in Duarte province and the rice fields near Nagua in Maria Trinidad Sánchez province. The government agency reports spending over RD$50 million on the effort that has extended into the Maria Trinidad Sanchez province. In the Lower Yuna Basin’s whole watershed area, the agency repaired dikes, canal gates, and even shored up river banks where the Yuna, famous for its flooding, does a lot of damage during the rainy season.
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El Caribe
7 February 2021