The Danube
Hydrographical characteristics
The length 2.857 km (21st place in the world and 2nd in Europe)
Basin surface 817.000 km2 (25th place in the world)
As a waterway, the Danube is used in the length of 2.588 km, from Sulina (the mouth of the Danube in the Black Sea) to Ulm (West Germany). The riverbed of the Danube stretches through the territories of nine countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine). The section through Serbia is 588 km long and 230 km represent the state border.
There are three specific sectors on the Danube:
– The Upper Danube, from the spring to the West Carpathian at Devinsky Gate
– The Central Danube, from the Devinsky Gate to the South Carpathian at Orsava
– The Lower Danube, from Orsava to the mouth into the Black Sea.
In the section from the state border to the confluence of the Nera River, the Danube shows all characteristics of a flatland river.
The use of the Danube potentials is in the development plans of all the countries through which it flows. The resources of the Danube are used for water supply of the population, industry, agriculture, hydro-power, navigation, fishing, tourism, recreation, etc.
The Tisa
The largest tributary of the Danube and international river, which flows through four countries (Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Serbia), while the basin area also stretches onto the territory of Slovakia. Its total length is 966 km and it is a typical flatland river. The Tisa springs in the Carpathian Mountains and it is one of the oldest rivers in the world. The flow of the Tisa can be divided in three sections:
– The upper section of the flow from the spring, where it is created by merging of the White and Black Tisa, to the confluence of the Samos River
– The central section of the flow, from the confluence of the Samos River to the confluence of the Moris River
– The lower section of the flow, from the confluence of the Moris River to the confluence into the Danube at Slankamen.
The length of the flow of the Tisa River through Serbia is 160 km. The conditions for navigation are not the most favourable and it is navigable mainly from its confluence to Szolnok.
The Sava
The largest river in the former SFRY. The spring of the Sava River is on the foothills of the Alps and Caravan Mountains. From the confluence of the Sava Dolinjska and Sava Bohinjska to the confluence into the Danube River, the Sava flows in the length of 810 km. A part of the Sava River flowing through Vojvodina belongs to its lower section and it starts downstream from the confluence of the Bosna River. The main tributaries are on the right side and downstream from the Bosna River the most important tributaries are the Drina and Kolubara on the right and the Bosut River on the left side. The Sava River is navigable from Belgrade to Sisak, in the length of 586 km. It is almost twice richer with water than the Tisza River although the catchment area surface is smaller. It is the tributary of the Danube that is the richest with water.
Water courses of Banat
One of the characteristics of water courses in Banat is that they all have their springs in the territory of Romania and confluences in Serbia. Looking from the north to the south, the water courses in Banat include the rivers of Zlatica, Galacka, Old Begej, Begej, Timis, Brzava, Moravica with Rojga, Kriš and Nera. The Begej River and water courses that are located more to the north belong to the Tisza River basin, while the Timis and water courses that are located more to the south belong to the Danube River basin. They all receive and transfer water coming from the Romanian Carpathian Mountains and they are of exceptionally torrent character in their upper flow sections.
The Zlatica
The catchment area of the natural water course of the Zlatica River (the surface of 455 km2) is the main recipient used to take water mainly from the territory of Romania, somewhat less from the territory of Serbia and up to a very small extent from the territory of Hungary. The length of the Zlatica River in Serbia is 33.8 km. Being included in the main canal network of the Danube-Tisa-Danube Hydro-system, the Zlatica River got a completely different role compared to the one it used to have until 1945.
The Galacka
In the past, the Galacka River used to be a natural water course with the catchment area of 843 km2. However, it has been partly reclaimed in time and it became the main recipient that is used to transfer excess water. Since 1904, a part of the Galacka basin in Romania has been connected with the Zlatica basin into which it has been directing its water under normal conditions. The length of the Galacka River in Serbia is 68.5 km. Once the Danube-Tisa-Danube Hydro-system was built and it was intersected by the Kikinda Canal, its role was completely changed.
The Old Begej
The Old Begej was created from the torrent rivers of Beregso, Nyrad and Jer that merge at Sachalhasa. By the end of the 19th century, it was canalled from that point onwards in the length of 75 km, all up to its confluence into the Begej River. It intersects with the state border at Hetin and along all its length it flows between the flood protection lines, except in its most downstream section in the length of 5.3 km.
The Begej
The Begej River is the main tributary of the Tisa River in Serbia. It springs in Romania and it is 284 km long. By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century it was canalled and via two canals, it was merged with the Timis River downstream from Timisoara so that their inflows became mutually dependent. The Begej River has three main typical parts: the natural bed from the confluence up to Klek, the dug and regulated section from Klek to the confluence into the Timis and the most downstream unregulated section. The length of navigable Begej is 114 km. It reaches up to Timisoara and its length through Serbia is 75.4km on the left and 77.2 km on the right bank where it is intersected with the state border.
The Timis
It is the largest river in Banat with the basin surface covering 10.352 km2 and the flow length of 339.7 km, 118 km of which are in Serbia up to the settlement of Jasa Tomić. Since it is an exceptionally torrent water course, it is characterised by the occurrence of high water by the end of winter and beginning of spring due to snow melting and during summer due to heavy rains, all in the upper part of the basin that is located in Romania. In its flow through Serbia, the Timis River is under the influence of the Danube waters regime. From its confluence up to Pančevo, in the length of 3 km, the Timis River is navigable for large-dimension vessels and small vessels can use it all up to Orlovat.
The Brzava
The size of the basin area of the Brzava River in our territory is 1.979 km2; its total length is 180 km. The spring of the Brzava River is in Romania and its confluence into the Timis River is at Botoš. The lower part of the Brzava River flow, up to its 40th km, with dikes built on both sides was regulated in 1893. Upstream from its regulated section the Brzava River often floods the surrounding terrain.
The Moravica
The Moravica River ends in the Theresa Canal. The flood protection dikes have been built on its both sides up to the state border with Romania and it is 17.3 km long. At the point of 8.3 km of its right bank, the river accepts its tributary Rojga that is 12.5 km long, which is also surrounded with dikes and intersected with the state border. A joint basin area of the Moravica and Rojga rivers covers the territory of 423 km2.
The Kriš
With the total length of 128 km and the basin covering 1.705 km2, the river Kriš has its spring underneath the mountain of Semenik in Romania. It flows through Serbia from Kustil in the length of 50 km. The river Guzjana is its main tributary in Serbia. The Kris River is not regulated, its bed is stable, curvy and with ingrown vegetation, in particular in its most downstream part.
The Nera
The Nera River is the left tributary of the Danube, with the confluence at Banatska Palanka in the most south-eastern part of Banat. Its length is 137 km, the lower 22.7 km of which make the Serbian-Romanian border and the remaining upstream 115 km of which belong entirely to Romania. It has a developed network of small tributaries and it enters our country at the village of Kusic in the vicinity of Bela Crkva. The riverbed of the Nera River has got a lot of meanders, it is not regulated and it causes intensive depositing of gravel and sand, as well as rising of the river bottom.
Water courses in Bačka
The spring of the Plazović stream is in Hungary, to the east from Baja. Its basin area is 1.007 km2 and it is located largely in Hungary. In our territory, it accepts small basins of Kolut and Ridjica. It is highly curved and it flows between the dikes in a shorter section of 5 km.
The spring of the Mostonga stream is in the north-west from Stanisic, in the north Bačka. The settlements of Stanisic, Sombor, Doroslovo, Srpski Miletić, Karavukovo, Deronje, and Bač are located on its east bank while it flows into the Danube inundation between Bačko Novo Selo and Mladenovo. Once the Bezdan-Begej Canal was built, it was divided into the North and South Mostonga.
The spring of the Keres stream is in Hungary at Kiskunhalas and its confluence into the Tisza River is at Adorjan. Its basin covers the area of 976 km2. The stream obtains a larger portion of water from salinated areas and partly from the basins of Ludos and Palic Lakes that it is connected with.
Čik is deeply cut in and it obtains water mainly from the underground layers of its central and lower course. Its basin covers the area of more than 570 km2, and it is located mainly in Serbia. Its spring is in the vicinity of the village of Csikeria in Hungary and its confluence into the Tisza is directly in front of Backo Petrovo Selo.
The spring of the Krivaja is on Bajmok-Tavankut line and it flows into the Crna Bara, namely the Bezdan-Begej Canal at Turija. It is 115 km long and it is supplied with water from the underground layers.
The basin of the river Jegrčka was created in the territory of South Backa, i.e. on its loess terrace. It encompasses the surface of 144.200 ha with an elongated basin shape of around 100 km, and average width of 14.5 km. The first description of the Jegrička water course dates back to 1762 and it can be found on the maps of Backa-Bodros County. Before the introduction of protection measures against excess inland waters, the small river of Jegricka was a natural water course during the 1880s. The second large undertaking was carried out in the period from 1957 to 1958. The bed with the width ranging from 4 to 5 m was dug for the needs of the Danube-Tisza-Danube Hydro-system so that three basins were created distributed in the terrace form with the staircases in Zmajevo (over-flow) and Žabalj (sluice). The structures that were built changed completely the natural regime of both surface and ground waters. The river Jegricka is currently the right tributary of the Tisza River and its length is 65.4 km. Although it is the largest and longest water course in South Backa, the river Jegrička “does not represent a proper river but rather a whole range of ponds connected with wider or shorter recesses”. Its natural beginning is located in the territory of settlements of Despotovo, Silbaš, Parage, Ratkovo, and Pivnice. The depressions-arms of the Jegricka water course merge at Despotovo and they create a unique water course that flows into the Tisza River at Zabalj, at 37th km of its flow. The main purpose of the regulated water course of Jegricka is drainage, but it is also used for water supply of industry, settlements, fishponds, irrigation systems and sports-recreation purposes. Since 1988, four islands in the fishpond “Jegricka” were proclaimed strict natural resorts – “four islands in the fishpond of Jegricka” with the total surface of around 20 ha, with the protection zone consisting of the fishpond water.
Fruška Gora streams
In the south slope of Fruška Gora Mountain, within the Sava River basin, there are 30 streams the length of which ranges from less than 2 to 27 kilometres. The longest stream is Medjes (27 km), followed by Selevrenac (26 km), Kudoš (25 km), Mandjelos (23 km), Jelence (21 km), Borkovac (20 km), Čikas (19 km), and Sidina (18 km). By the rule, Fruška Gora streams that belong to the Danube River basin are shorter and there are 53 of them. The longest one is Patka-Budovar near Krčedin (52 km). Many Fruska Gora streams dispose with permanent water, some dive after a few kilometres of their flow and continue to flow underground, while the beds of the streams are often turned into pond and marsh zones with highly shallow springs.
The Bosut
The Bosut River is the left tributary of the Sava River. At Cerna, it accepts the Bidj stream and flows almost in parallel with the Sava River in Srem for about 180 km. The river obtains water mainly from groundwater springs and in a smaller quantity from springs that flow into it. Its bed is very deep – from 5 to 10m. The main tributaries of the Bosut River are the Studva (the length of around 30 km) and the Spacva that is more located 10 km upstream and that is somewhat shorter.