Drava

Not to be confused with the Drawa.

The Drava or Drave (German: Drau, pronounced [ˈdʁaʊ] ^ⓘ; Slovene: Drava [ˈdɾàːʋa]; Croatian: Drava [drǎːʋa]; Hungarian: Dráva [ˈdraːvɒ]; Italian: Drava [ˈdraːva]), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus,^[2] is a river in southern Central Europe.^[3] With a length of 710km,^[1] or 724km, if the length of its Sextner Bach source is added, it is the fifth or sixth longest tributary of the Danube, after the Tisza, Sava, Prut, Mureș and likely Siret. The Drava drains an area of about 40,154 square kilometers.^[1] Its mean annual discharge is seasonally 500m³/s to 670m³/s. Its source is near the market town of Innichen, in the Puster Valley of South Tyrol, Italy. The river flows eastwards through East Tyrol and Carinthia in Austria into the Styria region of Slovenia. It then turns southeast, passing through northern Croatia and, after merging with its main tributary the Mur, forms most of the border between Croatia and Hungary, before it joins the Danube near Osijek, in Croatia.

Drava or Drave Drau, Dráva
The Drava in Osijek, Croatia
Map of the Drava
Location
Countries	Italy Austria Slovenia Croatia Hungary
Cities	Lienz Spittal an der Drau Villach Ferlach Dravograd Vuzenica Muta Ruše Maribor Ptuj Ormož Varaždin Barcs Belišće Osijek
Physical characteristics
Source	North of the Neunerkofel/Cima Nove over the Toblacher Feld/Sella di Dobbiaco
• location	Toblach/Dobbiaco, South Tyrol/Alto Adige, Italy
• coordinates	46°43′9″N 12°15′16″E
• elevation	1,450 m (4,760 ft)
Mouth	Danube near Osijek
• location	Croatia
• coordinates	45°32′38″N 18°55′31″E
Length	709.8 km (441.0 mi)[1]
Basin size	40,154 km2 (15,504 sq mi)[1]
Discharge
• location	Osijek, Croatia (19.8 km upstream of mouth)
• average	552 m3/s (19,500 cu ft/s)
• minimum	125 m3/s (4,400 cu ft/s)
• maximum	3,000 m3/s (110,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Belišće, Croatia (53.8 km upstream of mouth - Basin size: 38,500 km2 (14,900 sq mi)[1]
• average	544 m3/s (19,200 cu ft/s)[1]
• minimum	160 m3/s (5,700 cu ft/s)[1]
• maximum	2,232 m3/s (78,800 cu ft/s)[1]
Discharge
• location	Barcs, Hungary (154.1 km upstream of mouth - Basin size: 33,977 km2 (13,119 sq mi)[1]
• average	486 m3/s (17,200 cu ft/s)[1] (Period of data: 1896–2014)595 m3/s (21,000 cu ft/s)
• minimum	114 m3/s (4,000 cu ft/s)[1] (Period of data: 1896–2014)170 m3/s (6,000 cu ft/s)
• maximum	3,040 m3/s (107,000 cu ft/s)[1] (Period of data: 1896–2014)3,070 m3/s (108,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Ormož, Slovenia (312.8 km upstream of mouth - Basin size: 15,379 km2 (5,938 sq mi)[1]
• average	292 m3/s (10,300 cu ft/s)[1]
• minimum	28 m3/s (990 cu ft/s)[1]
• maximum	1,994 m3/s (70,400 cu ft/s)[1]
Discharge
• location	Lavamünd, Austria (413.3 km upstream of mouth - Basin size: 11,052 km2 (4,267 sq mi)[1]
• average	280 m3/s (9,900 cu ft/s)[1]
• minimum	95 m3/s (3,400 cu ft/s)[1]
• maximum	2,400 m3/s (85,000 cu ft/s)[1]
Basin features
Progression	Danube→ Black Sea
River system	Danube River

Name

In ancient times the river was known as Dravus or Draus in Latin, and in Greek as Δράος^[4][5] and Δράβος. Medieval attestations of the name include Dravis (c. AD 670), Drauva (in 799), Drauus (in 811), Trauum (in 1091), and Trah (in 1136). The name is pre-Roman and pre-Celtic, but probably of Indo-European origin, from the root *dreu̯- 'flow'.^[6] The river gives its name to the dravite species of tourmaline.^[7]

Carpis

The Carpis (Greek: Κάρπίς) was a river which, according to Herodotus,^[8] flowed from the upper country of the Ombricans northward into the Ister (Danube), whence it has been supposed that this river is the same as the Dravus.^[9]

Geography

The Drava (along with one of its tributaries, the Slizza) and the Spöl are the only two rivers originating in Italy that belong to the Danube drainage basin. Its main left tributaries (from the north) are the Isel (contributes 39 m³/s), the Möll (25 m³/s), the Lieser [de] (22 m³/s), the Gurk (30 m³/s) and the Lavant (12 m³/s) in Austria, and the Mur (166 m³/s) near Legrad at the Croatian–Hungarian border. Its main right tributaries (from the south) are the Gail (45 m³/s) in Austria, the Meža (12 m³/s) and Dravinja (11 m³/s) in Slovenia, and the Bednja (? m³/s) in Croatia.

Country	Length (km)	Catchment area (km2)	Mean flow (m3/s)
Italy	10.6	354 (0.9%)	4
Austria	254.7	22162 (55.2%)	280
Austria–Slovenia	4.2	border
Slovenia	117.7	4662 (11.6%)	292
Slovenia–Croatia	23.3	border
Croatia	166.4	6822 (17.0%)	544
Croatia–Hungary	133.0	border
Hungary	0	6154 (15.3%)	544
Total	709.8	40154 (100%)	544

Mean discharge is for the last station in the country mentioned in the source.^[1]

Course

Drava sources, Innichen

The sources of the Drava are located at the drainage divide between the market town of Innichen/San Candido and neighbouring Toblach/Dobbiaco in the west, where the Rienz River rises, a tributary of the Adige/Etsch. At Innichen itself the 16+ km Sextner Bach [de],^[10] originating near the Sextener Rotwand, joins the ~2 km long source creek. The river than flows eastwards and after 8 kilometres crosses into East Tyrol in Austria. At Lienz it flows into the Isel, sourced from the glaciers of the Venediger and Glockner Groups. The Isel (average discharge 39 m³/s) is almost three times larger than the Drava (14 m³/s) where they meet and, starting from the source of its tributary Schwarzach [de] under the Rötspitze, the Isel (ca. 64 km) is also longer than the combined Drava and Sextner Bach (ca. 60 km) to that point.^[11][1]

The river then flows east into Carinthia at Oberdrauburg. The river separates the Kreuzeck range of the High Tauern in the north and the Gailtal Alps in the south, passes the Sachsenburg narrows and the site of the ancient city of Teurnia, before it reaches the town of Spittal an der Drau. Downstream of Villach, it runs along the northern slopes of the Karawanks to Ferlach and Lavamünd.

The Drava passes into Slovenia at Gorče near Dravograd, from where it runs for 142 kilometres (88 mi)^[12] via Vuzenica, Muta, Ruše, and Maribor to Ptuj and the border with Croatia at Ormož. The river then passes Varaždin, Belišće and Osijek in Croatia, and Barcs in Hungary. It is navigable for about 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Čađavica in Croatia to its mouth.

The hydrological parameters of Drava are regularly monitored in Croatia at Botovo, Terezino Polje, Donji Miholjac and Osijek.^[13]

Discharge

The Drava's mean annual discharge (Q) at Drávaszabolcs (Hungary, 77.7 rkm). Period from 1995 to 2023.^[14]

Year	Q (m3/s)	Year	Q (m3/s)
1995	479	2010	633.4
1996	598	2011	442.4
1997	437	2012	528.3
1998	513	2013	638.5
1999	588	2014	714.9
2000	549	2015	459.2
2001	464	2016	269.7
2002	410.6	2017	359.7
2003	348.8	2018	446.4
2004	501.6	2019	259.8
2005	474.1	2020	535.5
2006	326.7	2021	478.4
2007	338	2022	319.1
2008	483.5	2023	636
2009	627.9	2024

Hydroelectric power plants

Currently, there are 22 hydroelectric power plants on the Drava. The power plants are listed beginning at the headwaters:

Dam	Nameplate capacity (MW)	Annual generation (Mio. kwh)
Amlach power station[15]	60	219
Paternion[16]	24	95
Kellerberg[16]	25	96
Villach[16]	25	100
Rosegg-St. Jakob[16]	80	338
Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf[16]	88	354
Ferlach-Maria Rain[16]	75	318
Annabrücke[16]	90	390
Edling[16]	87	407
Schwabeck[16]	79	378
Lavamünd[16]	28	156
Dravograd[17]	26.2	142
Vuzenica[17]	55.6	247
Vuhred[17]	72.3	297
Ožbalt[17]	73.2	305
Fala[17]	58	260
Mariborski Otok[17]	60	270
Zlatoličje[17]	126	577
Formin[17]	116	548
Varaždin	86	476
Čakovec	75.9	400
Dubrava	84

The Drava is one of the most exploited rivers in the world in terms of hydropower, with almost 100% of its water potential energy being exploited.^[18][19] As the region of the river is a place of exceptional biodiversity, this raises several ecological concerns, together with other forms of exploitation such as use of river deposits.^[20][21]

References

1. Joint Drava River Corridor Analysis Report Archived 2016-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, 27 November 2014
2. Smith, William, ed. (1854). "Dravus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
3. Utrata Fachwörterbuch: Geographie - Englisch-Deutsch/Deutsch-Englisch by Jürgen Utrata (2014). Retrieved 10 Apr 2014.
4. Roesler, R. (1873). "Einiges über das Thrakische". Zeitschrift für die österreichischen Gymnasien. 24. Vienna: Carl Gerold's Sohn: 111.
5. Melich, J. (1932). "Über slavische Flußnamen fremden Ursprungs. Milan von Rešetar zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet". Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie. 9 (1/2): 97. JSTOR 24000481. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
6. Snoj, Marko (2009). Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan. p. 124.
7. Deer, William Alexander; Howie, Robert Andrew; Zussman, Jack (1997). Rock-Forming Minerals: Volume 1B, Disilicates and Ring Silicates. London: The Geological Society. p. 559.
8. Hdt. 4.49.
9. Smith, William, ed. (1854). "Carpis. 1". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
10. Sextner Bach at the South Tyrol/Alto Adige agency for the environment website
11. Hydrographisches Jahrbuch Österreichs 2008, S. OG322
12. Rivers, longer than 25 km, and their catchment areas, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
13. "Daily hydrological report". State Hydrometeorological Bureau of the Republic of Croatia. Archived from the original on 2010-05-30. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
14. "KSH".
15. "Kraftwerk Amlach" (in German). Tiroler Wasserkraft. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
16. "Die Drau" (in German). Verbund. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
17. "Power plants". Dravske elektrarne Maribor. Archived from the original on 2016-08-27. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
18. "HSE - Did you know?". HSE. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
19. "International Symposium "Drava River Vision"". LIFE Projekt Lebensader Obere Drau. 2 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
20. "The Drava River – a flowing controversy". International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
21. "Is the Drava River Basin management sustainable and well on the way?" (PDF). International Symposium "Drava River Vision". Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management; Government of Carinthia, Department of Water Management. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-07.

Bibliography

• Petrić, Hrvoje (2014). "About Drava River Floodings. Some Aspects of the Interrelationship between Humans and the River Drava in the Pre-Industrial Times with an Emphasis on the Late 18th and Early 19th Century.". Man, Nature and Environment Between the Northern Adriatic and the Eastern Alps in Premodern Times. University of Ljubljana. ISBN 978-961-237723-6.

External links

• DrauDrava - old river and new sounds
• Condition of Drava in various locations in Slovenia:
• Črneče Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Črneče by ARSO)
• Ptuj Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Ptuj by ARSO)
• Borl Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Borl by ARSO)