Later, Santiago de los Caballeros was moved again near the river, where the modern city stands today.

Its discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 97.0 cubic metres per second at Palo Verde, to the southeast of Monte Cristi.

[1] Due to factory dumping, water mismanagement, and damming, the Yaque Del Norte is currently very polluted; it is very diminished in size, and lacks fish throughout much of its course.

American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) once inhabited the Yaque del Norte and other rivers of Hispaniola,[5] but now they are found only in the large lakes of the island (Lago Enriquillo and Etang Saumâtre).

Crops grown include rice, bananas, plantains, cassava, tobacco, and vegetables.

The river is 298 km long, is the drainage basin for the north-west of the country, and is economically important as a source of irrigation for rice-farming and other agriculture.