Zapadna Morava
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The Zapadna Morava or West Morava (Serbian Cyrillic: Западна Морава), is a river in central Serbia, a 308 km-long longer headstream of the Velika Morava, which it forms with the Južna Morava.
Origin
The Zapadna Morava originates in the Tašti field, east of the town of Požega, from the Golijska Moravica and Ðetinja headstreams. In the field Đetinja receives from the left its main tributary, the Skrapež but less than a kilometer after the confluence, it meets the Golijska Moravica from the south, forming the Zapadna Morava. Since the proximity of the confluences of Đetinja, Skrapež and Golijska Moravica, some sources consider all three rivers to be direct headstreams of the Zapadna Morava. Following the direction of the course, the Đetinja is a natural headstream of the Zapadna Morava, but since Golijska Moravica is 23 km longer, the latter is considered as the main headstream. Measured from the source of the Golijska Moravica, the Zapadna Morava is 308 km long while the length of the Zapadna Morava proper is 210 km.
Course
Unlike the Južna and Velika Morava's meridian (south-to-north) flow, the Velika Morava runs in an opposed, latitudinal (west-to-east) direction, dividing the region of Šumadija of the central Serbia from the southern parts of the country.
Due to the Zapadna Morava's direction, it flows between many mountains, regions and sub-regions:
- between the regions of Crna Gora to the north and Dragačevo to the south; here it receives the Bjelica from the south and the small town of Lučani, center of Dragačevo, is located in the vicinity, south of the river.
- between the Ovčar (north) and Kablar (south) mountains; the river here carved the Ovčar-Kablar gorge; the Zapadna Morava is dammed in the gorge (which is called Serbian Mount Athos, due to many monasteries) and again right after it, so the artificial Ovčar-Kablar and Međuvršje lakes are formed.
- between the Takovo region (north) and Jelica mountain and Goračići region (south); here is located the town of Čačak, the river is dammed again (Lake Parmenac) and receives many tributaries (mostly from the left: the Čemernica, Bresnička reka, Lađevačka reka); at this point, the river enters the low valley of Zapadno Pomoravlje, meanders and floods often, so from now on the major settlements will be further from the river (Goričani, Lađevci, Mrčajevci).
- between the Kotlenik mountain and the Gruža region (north) and the Stolovi mountains (south); the town of Kraljevo and its suburbs of Adrani and Ratina are located south of the river, where the Ibar empties into the Zapadna Morava from the right; also from the right it receives the Tovarnica and from the left, the Gruža.
- between the mountains of Gledićke planine (north) and Goč (south); the most famous Serbian spa, Vrnjačka Banja, its suburbs of Vrnjci and Novo Selo, the industrial town of Trstenik and the monastery of Ljubostinja are located in this section.
- between the regions of Temnić (north) and Rasina (south); several large villages are located north of the river (Medveđa, Velika Drenova, Kukljin, Bošnjane, while the village of Globoder, town of Kruševac and its suburbs of Jasika, Pepeljevac, Parunovac and Čitluk are located south of it. North of the small town of Stalać, the Zapadna and Južna Morava meet and form the Velika Morava.
Economy
The Zapadna Morava river valley, Zapadno Pomoravlje, is economically the most developed of all three Morava river valleys. With the valley of the Ibar, the Zapadna Morava has a huge potential in electricity production (the Ovčar (6 MW) and Međuvršje (7 MW) hydroelectric power plants). Water is also used for the irrigation and for the same purpose the artificial lake Parmenac is created on the river, thus helping the already fertile region (grains, orchards). Also, out of all three Morava rivers, the Zapadna Morava's valley is the most forested one.
The watershed of the Zapadna Morava is rich in ores, (the Ibar section most of all), and includes the mininig of hard coal, magnesite, chromium, etc. As a result, the industry is very developed with a string of heavily industrialized towns: Užice, Požega, Čačak, Kraljevo, Trstenik and Kruševac. The traffic is also important for the economy as the whole of the river valley is a natural route for the both roads and railways connecting eastern, central and western Serbia.
Characteristics
All together, the Zapadna Morava receives 85 tributaries. The river used to be longer (319 km), but due to the regulation of the flow, it is shorter now.
The Zapadna Morava has an average discharge of 120 m³/s, but it is characterized by extreme fluctuations, which results in severe floods.
The Zapadna Morava drains an area of 15,849 km² (42,3 % of the entire Velika Morava watershed), belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin and it is not navigable.
References
- Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
- Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
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