Bistricë (river)

Bistricë

View from the artificial lake on rivers' basin
Basin
Main source Syri i Kaltër, Vlorë County, Albania
River mouth Ionian Sea
39°50′38″N 20°1′52″E / 39.84389°N 20.03111°E / 39.84389; 20.03111Coordinates: 39°50′38″N 20°1′52″E / 39.84389°N 20.03111°E / 39.84389; 20.03111
Countries Albania
Physiognomy
Length 25 km (16 mi)
Discharge
  • Average rate:
    40.4–66.4 m3/s (1,430–2,340 cu ft/s) (August–Winter)

Bistricë (definite: Bistrica) is a river in southwestern Albania. It ends in the Ionian Sea.


Map with the drainage basins of the Albanian rivers: Bistricë is in the far south.

Geography

Bistricë starts from Mali i Gjerë (also known as Sopot) in Finiq municipality directing initially versus south-west. The main source is near Krongj ("The Blue Eye" source), also gathering other sources from the nearby villages of Pecë, Kardhikaq, Velahovë, and other smaller brooks.[1] It passes through Mesopotam and Finiq municipalities, parallel with the Sarandë-Gjirokastër road.

Initially the river ended in Lake Butrint, which connects with the Ionian sea through the Vivar channel. In 1958, it was deviated to Çukë channel.

The river is 25 km long.

Economy and tourism

The river is not navigable. There is an artificial lake with the same name (Albanian: Liqeni i Bistricës) built on its basin, and three hydro-power stations built in the '60.[2] The river's waters are used to a certain extent as a supply for the nearby fields of Vurg area. All the stations passed through the privatization process from 2010 with plenty of controversies.[3][4]
A well known touristic place is the "Azure Eye", often referred as "Blue Eye" (Albanian: Syri i Kaltër), a spring tributary to Bistrica river near the village named Krongj, with a rich flora and fauna.

See also

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Vlore County - official page
  2. ↑ KESH - History of Energy in Albania (in Albanian)
  3. ↑ Qeveria i shiti hidrocentralin e Bistricës një mashtruesi, arrestohet nga FBI në Qipro [The government sold the hydropower station to an impostor, arrested by FBI in Cyprus] (in Albanian), AMA News, 2010-08-08, retrieved 11 January 2014
  4. ↑ Privatizimi i HEC-ve Bistrica 1 dhe Bistrica 2, qeveria miraton ofertën e "Kurum" [Bistrica-1 and Bistrica-2 through privatization, the government accepts the offer from Kurum] (in Albanian), 9 January 2013, retrieved 12 January 2014

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.