DIGITALNA ARHIVA ŠUMARSKOG LISTA
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ŠUMARSKI LIST 13/2005 str. 106 <-- 106 --> PDF |
V. Ivančević: BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL REGULATION OF THE SENJ TORRENT "TORRENTE" Šumarski list - SUPI.EMENT (2005), 91-109 torrent (the Senj or the Kriški stream) ran through the central part of the old town nucleus. It frequently pulled down houses and dams and flooded ground floors and pubs, especially in the downtown on Cilnica, Potok and Križ. The houses were protected from sudden floods with vertical planks inserted into shallow grooves in stone doorposts. In a document dating from 1683, the people of Senj complained to the Hungarian parliament that German officers were unlawfully cutting down their forests. Forests continued to disappear; a copper engraving of the Town of Senj by Valvasor from 1689 shows a rather poor forest cover of Senjska Draga (Figure 2). Another data relating to the unsatisfactory condition of the forests in Senjska Draga from the mid-18th century is contained in the renowned Franzoni´s Forest Order, forest descriptions and other forest regulations of the Military Border region (Koso v i ć, 1914). In the description of forests in the Karlovac Generalate, there is particular mention of the district of Senjska Draga, covering 1,088 acres (626 ha) of forests. As many as 165 trees per acre (280 trees/ha) or a total of 175,520, trees were registered: The description states (quote): "It can be seen that there is not one single large tree in the whole of Senjska Draga, but there are very beautiful young forests of oak everywhere, which, if maintained and tended, will grow into fine oaks." Franzoni´s Forest Order was adopted in 1765 by a mixed military commission. It was also concluded that conflicts between the Karlovac Generalate and the Town of Senj about the jurisdiction over the forests in Senjska Draga should be resolved. According to this conclusion, the Town of Senj gained jurisdiction over the area contained within half an hour´s walk from the town. The Military Border guards were to withdraw to the new boundary and guard it together with the citizens of Senj. The area of the Town of Senj, which was not covered with forests anyway, was thus restricted. The fact that there were no forests in that area is little known; therefore, when we talk about the disappearance of forests in Senjska Draga, we are in fact making a mistake. The truth is that the forests in Senjska Draga had already disappeared before this conflict (Kosović, 1914). The disappearance of forests in Senjska Draga at the end of the 18th century must have assumed severe proportions. The si tuation grew worse, and the Town of Senj was increasingly exposed to strong torrential deposits coming from Senjska Draga. To protect the town from the destructive torrents at least partially, General F. Vukaso vie diverged the torrent channel from the centre of the town outside the town walls towards the south in 1785 (Figure 3). The channel must have been built somewhat earlier, since a torrent channel can be traced on the map of the Town of Senj from 1763, kept at the Viennese Court Chamber Archives (Figure 4). Vukasović re-directed the torrent channel (called the Kolan) from Mera Fort, and then cut it deeply into the rocks of Nehaj towards Art and the sea. The channel was later lined with stones and crossed with bridges and vaults in several places. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19l century, salt, cereals and timber storages were built above Kolan, but were destroyed in the Second World War. In order to protect Senj from possible flooding, the whole channel of Kolan was repaired and fortified as far as the first bridge at Art at the end of the 19th century (G1 a v i č i ć, 1965). These relatively costly operations in the lower slope of the Senj torrent partially protected the Town of Senj, but there was always threat of new dangers. Thus, for example, the town cemetery was completely destroyed by a strong torrent in 1856 despite having been fenced with a wall in 1851. A strong rain in 1889 again inflicted severe damage to the town. It became clear that the Senj torrent could not be harnessed without complex biological-technical operations in its upper slope (in the area of Senjska Draga). The Senj torrent deposited an average of 32,000 m of various materials (stones, pebbles, debris and sand) annually, at a flow ratio of 96-0.1 m3/s. The material flow was made up of fine suspended (2/3) and coarse deposits (1/3). In fact, the Senj torrent is a periodic watercourse caused by sudden and heavy precipitation, which leaches, cuts into and erodes the banks, carrying the material and soil to lower positions (deposits) and finally into the sea. The total torrential course of 24.7 km consists of the main course of 13.9 km (56 %) and the subsidiary course or braids of 10.8 km (44 %). The subsidiary course is made up of four braids: Bukvica 1.3 km, Pištanek 1.9 km, Kriški Potok 2.2 km and Sijaset 5.4 km. BIOLOGICAL-TECHNICAL REGULATION OF THE SENJ TORRENT IN ITS UPPER SLOPE Considerable damage from the Senj torrent in the lower slope at the entrance to the Town of Senj in the mid 19lh century was caused by rapid devastation of forests and increased erosion in Senjska Draga. The forests were cut down by the inhabitants of Senj (about 900 people) whose survival depended mainly on the exploitation of the forest resource. In 1867, the Otočac IN SENJSKA DRAGA Royal Forest Office undertook to halt the negative trend by resurrecting the forests and afforesting Senj ska Draga in 1869, the first such attempt on the Croati an karst. However, the results were not satisfactory due to the dislocated nature of this Office and the use of inadequate planting material. At that time, the Town of Senj attempted to improve their water supply by recon |