Bidirectional channels drain and flood the lakes and the surrounding areas. During the rainy season these bidirectional channels interconnect lakes that are normally isolated from eachother during low water periods. The navigation network of the Mompox Region is 2.257km long, 59% is made up of main river streams and arms. Additionally there are numerous large wetlands interconnected with the streams. Compared to the primary and secondary roads during dry season the fluvial network is at least 1,7 times longer. All settlements located on the banks of the rivers or arms have quays or docking facilities for canoes and boats. Larger towns and urban areas have wharves that permit mooring of tugboats and other large cargo ships for cattle, timber, cement etc. However docking facilities and wharves tend to have poorly maintained access roads. Aside from this the use of these is restricted during the dry season due to: R5
158
i136 i137
Low water levels exposing sediment banks. This hinders the mobilization of even small boats and there-
159