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ŠUMARSKI LIST 13/2005 str. 107     <-- 107 -->        PDF

V. Ivančević: BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL REGULATION OF THE SENJ TORRENT "TORRENTE" ... Šumarski list - SUPLEMENT (2005). 91-109
structing the old aqueduct from Senjska Draga, but
lacked the necessary financial means. The land government
was willing to assist in financing the aqueduct
reconstruction on condition that the Senj torrent
was regulated first.


The shorter period that followed was marked by very
dynamic political changes in Croatia related to the
demilitarisation of the Military Border in 1881 and its
annexation to the united corpus of Croatia. Aware of
the very difficult position of the inhabitants in the Military
Border region, Baron Antun Mollinary, Commander
of the Military Border (1870-1877), personally
undertook to improve their life conditions, especially in
the karst area. He invited several top experts to inspect
the terrain and propose suitable solutions. The proposed
and adopted solutions focused on forestry and karst
afforestation. Credit for this goes to forestry experts Jo-
sip Wesely and Milan Durst. The former made a
detailed round of the Military Border karst area and
wrote an excellent book on the Croatian karst, while the
latter held high positions in the central government. A
set of favourable circumstances led to the foundation of
the Royal Commission for Karst Afforestation in the
Military Border region - the Inspectorate for the Afforestation
of Karst, Wasteland and Torrents (hereinafter:
Inspectorate) in Senj in 1878, the oldest specialised forestry
karst organisation in Croatia. The Inspectorate
was responsible for the narrow corridor from Povila
(near Novi Vinodolski) to St. Magdalena (near Starigrad)
covering 46,000 ha of karst. In the 64 years of
continuous work (1878-1942) the Inspectorate achieved
significant results, primarily in afforesting 1,700 ha
with 10.5 million seedlings and restocking 1,400 ha
with 4.5 million seedlings and in carrying out other biological-
technical operations (Ivančević, 1996).


Immediately after the Inspectorate was established,
activities were started to regulate the upper slope of the
Senj torrent in Senjska Draga. A French forestry-technical
system of torrent regulation was applied, which
was devised by the renowned forestry expert Prosper
Demonthzey . This system involved simultaneous
technical regulation of the torrent watercourse and the
afforestation of the upper slope, including a strict grazing
ban (H a u e i s e, 1926). The regulation of the torrent
in its upper slope neutralised its negative impact in
the lower slope and converted poor quality soil into
fertile soil. More extensive activities on afforesting
Senjska Draga are related to the establishment of a larger
number of cultures - enclosures of black pine distributed
in a mosaic-like pattern, which gradually created
the conditions for the return of autochthonous vegetation
and the protection of soil. Afforestation activities
were most intensive from 1879-1900, when larger
areas of cultures - enclosures (62 %) were established.
According to P e 1 c e r (1972), 22 cultures - enclosures


of black pine were established over 320 ha, of which
271 ha were cultures of black pine and 49 ha of autochthonous
forests of black pine. A total of about 1.5 million
seedlings were planted and 1,800 kg of seeds sowed.
As many as 380 ha were cleaned and 50 ha thinned.
Moreover, the very steep and unstable sides along
the torrent were fortified with wattles and bundles of
poplar and willow cuttings and poles. A 20-km drywall
was built and 3,700 m of paths and trails were constructed.
Unlike these technical operations, it took
much longer for biological operations to have positive
effects on the torrent regulation. However, as time passed,
the positive effects of afforestation on erosion and
torrent regulations were increasingly felt. Thus, medium-
scale afforestation decreased the erosion of fine
particles by three times and of pebbles and small debris
by 40 times.


Other technical operations were executed by the
torrent regulation sub-department of the Royal Land
Government forestry department, while field activities
were performed by the Royal district authorities. These
specialised services employed forestry and torrent
experts, who received scholarships and subsidies for
education at the High Agricultural School in Vienna.
The majority of the transversal barriers were erected in
the narrowest parts of the valleys (Stolačka, Senjska,
Ljubežinska and Oštro) in order to achieve the best effects
with a minimum amount of work and means. The
transversal barriers were built of stones: the upper
parts were built of drywall and the lower parts of cement
mortar. The first to be regulated was a section
from St. Križ to the sea, and then towards Stolac and
Vratnik. The largest transversal barrier number six in
Croatia, 61.5 m long and 1.1m thick in the top part,
was built in Senjska Draga in 1889 by A. Havliček,
a certified torrent expert, at a cost of 18,000 crowns´.
That same year, 32,000 crowns were invested into the
regulation of the torrent in Senjska draga for the purpose
of preserving the Senj water supply system. For
this purpose the Royal Land Government founded a
special civil engineering administration in Senj at the
end of the 19th century, which also managed the construction
of the water supply system in Crikvenica. Immediately
after the upper barrier was built, another
massive barrier near the Senj cemetery was built in


1891 (Figure 5). This barrier was erected in a wide
part, but was made stable by building its sides into the
cliffs. This barrier stopped the torrential debris before
it entered the terraced channel going towards the sea,
whose mild gradient hampered the smooth transport of
torrential debris. The intercepted debris was transported
to a suitable waste area at a small cost. The barrier


Torrent regulation in the Counties of Lika-Krbava and Modruša-
Rijcka in 1899, Šumarski list, 1900, pp 497-499.