Abatesco

The Abatesco (Abatescu) is a French coastal river which flows through the Haute-Corse department and empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Geography
The watercourse is 24.8 km long.

The Abatesco originates 200 m south of the summit of Monte Formicola, which is 1,981 m high, at an altitude of 1,700 m in the commune of San-Gavino-di-Fiumorbo.

The source is very close to the famous GR20 hiking trail. The upper section is called the Tassi torrent. It only takes the name of Abatesco about 3 km from its source.

It first flows from southwest to northeast, then generally flows from west to east. It flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea in the commune of Serra-di-Fiumorbo.

Neighboring coastal rivers are the Fiumorbo to the north and the Travo to the south.

Watershed municipalities and cantons
In the Haute-Corse department alone, the Abatesco drains four communes within one canton:


 * Communes from upstream to downstream are: San-Gavino-di-Fiumorbo (source), Isolaccio-di-Fiumorbo, Prunelli-di-Fiumorbo, Serra-di-Fiumorbo (mouth).
 * The Abatesco runs through the canton of Prunelli-di-Fiumorbo, the most southerly canton of Haute-Corse, in the arrondissement of Corte.

On almost all of its route, it serves as a boundary for the communes it runs along: Serra-di-Fiumorbo on its right bank, San-Gavino, then Isolaccio and finally Prunelli on its left bank.

Watershed
The surface of the Abatesco watershed is estimated as 111 km2 by Sandre, and as 89 km2 by a study published in the French Bulletin of Fishing and Fish Farming.

Managing body
The managing body since passage of the Corsican law of 22 January 2002 has been the Corsican Basin Committee (Comité de bassin de Corse).

Tributaries
The Abastesco has nineteen referenced tributaries:

Strahler number
The Strahler number of the Abatesco river is five from the Biaccino, Anzagara, Minagoli and Juva tributaries.

Human presence
In the valley, in the places called Abbazia, Agnatello, Calzarello and Catastajo, a whole wood industry was born and prospered, run by the FORTEF company (Forêts - Terres et Forces du Fiumorbo). It extracted 6,000 m3 of sawed timber and employed 800 people in 1935, with 4,200 ha of forests and 1,200 ha of cultivable land. It fell into disuse in the nineteenth century. In particular, at the height of 69 m on the Abatesco, a dam was built and hydroelectric plants (horizontal Pelton type or Francis type turbines ) at the place called Agnatello, supplied the timber industry which also existed at less than a kilometer, at a place called Abbazia at altitudes of 54 to 38 m. In these same places, Corsican railways built a large railway bridge.

By the sea, less than 1 km, and at an altitude of 9 m the RT 10 (formerly RN 198) passes over the Abatesco. The old Roman road crossed about 500 m further north-west of this bridge, near the place called Chiarata.

On the river's course there are the Moulin de Branca and the Moulin de Biaccino, while the Moulin de Rizzale is on the Biaccino stream.

Ecology
The river and its tributaries are populated with trout. A devastating flood for the fish population occurred in September 1989.

The mouth of the river has been classified as a Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (ZNIEFF) since 1985 covering 162 ha, which includes the Canna marshes and the Gradugine pond to the north, and the Palo pond to the south.