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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