The Sisco (French: Ruisseau de Sisco) is a small coastal stream in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France.
It enters the Tyrrhenian Sea from the east of the Cap Corse peninsula.
Course
The Sisco is 6.51 kilometres (4.05 mi) long and flows through the commune of Sisco, Haute-Corse.[1]
It rises at an altitude of 660 metres (2,170 ft) on the side of the Guado a l'Alzi.[2]
Its source is to the east of the 1,236 metres (4,055 ft) Rocher de Pruberzulu and south of Pietracorbara.
The stream flows east-southeast to the sea, where its mouth is in the town of Sisco.[3]
It enters the sea at the Sisco marina, to the north of the pebble beach.[2]
Woods along the Sisco are mainly composed of holm oak, cork oak, chestnut, olive, beech and alder.[2]
The D32 road parallels the stream for most of its course.[3]
The Sisco valley lies between the mountains that form the spine of the Cap Corse peninsula and the sea, and is enclosed between two ridges.[2]
The watershed covers 19.8 square kilometres (7.6 sq mi), with a maximum elevation of 1,307 metres (4,288 ft).
The watershed is bowl-shaped, with several streams converging to form the stream above the Moine location.[4]
Flows of water are carried rapidly downstream.
As a result, the Sisco sometimes has severe floods.[4]
In 1851 a flood rose to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) above the stream bed.
The village bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1907 and in 1938.
Further floods occurred in 1993, 1994 and 1999.[5]
Water quality
In August 2021 the mayor of Sisco banned swimming and fishing in the river due to a report that a visitor may have become infected by bilharzia, carried by the parasite Schistosoma haematobium, while swimming.
The disease is very rare in Europe, but had occurred in Corsica in 2014.[6]
Tributaries
The following streams (ruisseaux) are tributaries of the Sisco (ordered by length):[1]