Misplaced Pages

#605394

24-613: The idea for the construction of power plants along the Vacha River utilising the catchment area in the Western Rhodopes , dates back to 1920, when engineer Ivan Mavrov proposed it in his work "Archive of Water Power in Bulgaria". This idea was taken up by engineer Todor Romanov in the 1930s. The conceptual and technical design for the entire " Batak Hydropower Cascade " was developed between 1951 and 1955 in "Hydro Energy Project". The project

48-609: A circular cross-section with a diameter of 2.40 metres, a capacity of 13.6 m³/s, a length of 11.7 kilometres and a waterfall of 400 metres. The water from the Beglika and Toshkov Chark dams and the Gashna, Cherna and Byala dams flows into the diversion. Four vertical turbo groups were installed at the Batak Power Plant. The turbines are a Pelton wheel system with two nozzles. The generators are designed for 10.5 kV. The electricity generated

72-532: A stretch in its middle course forms the boundary between those two provinces and Pazardzhik Province . There are ten settlements along its course, two towns and eight villages: Kozhari, Buynovo, Teshel, Grohotno, Devin (town) and Mihalkovo in Smolyan Province and Krichim (town), Kurtovo Konare , Yoakim Gruevo and Kadievo in Plovdiv Province. There two main roads along its valley, an 11.3 km stretch of

96-562: Is a river in the Rhodope Mountains , southern Bulgaria , a left tributary of the Vacha , itself a right tributary of the river Maritsa . This 57 km long river is the longest tributary of the Vacha and drains the highest parts of the ridges Batak Mountain and Veliyshko–Videnishki of the western Rhodopes. The river springs under the name Semiza at an altitude of 2,000 m, 2 km south of

120-443: Is exported to an above-ground 10 kV system via tunnels and bare conductor rails. The above-ground building houses the 10 and 20 kV indoor units, while the 110 kV outdoor unit, which is connected to the 110 kV power line, was built next to it. With an average annual utilisation of 2800 hours, the power plant produces an average of 109.6 GWh per year. The power plant was completely refurbished between 2000 and 2001. The waste water from

144-614: Is formed along the Trigradska reka, a tributary of its right fork, the Chairdere, both included in the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria . The area along the gorges is rich in rock formations, such as stone arches, as well as numerous caves, including the show caves Yagodinska and Devil’s Throat . There are mineral springs at Devin, an important spa town , and Mihalkovo, the only naturally aerated water spring in Bulgaria. Devinska reka The Devinska reka ( Bulgarian : Девинска река )

168-585: The Batak Hydropower Cascade (254 MW). Its waters are also used for irrigation in the Upper Thracian Plain and the small valleys along its course, as well as for part of the potable water supply of Bulgaria’s second largest city Plovdiv . The narrow and steep Buynovo Gorge is located along the left fork of Vacha’s headwaters, the Buynovska reka, and the similarly dramatic Trigrad Gorge

192-484: The Rhodope Mountains , following the Arda (272 km), another major Maritsa tributary. The Vacha drains significant area of the western Rhodope Mountains, including the ridges Batak Mountain, Veliyshko–Videnishki, Pereliksko–Prespanski and Chernatitsa. The Buynovska reka is considered the main stem of the river and takes its source at an altitude of 1,558 m in the western Rhodope Mountains at 3.4 km southeast of

216-598: The Devin Mountain, which it cuts through a deep gorge. The river exits the gorge upstream of the town of Devin , where its valley widens, and flows into the Vacha in the eastern neighbourhoods of Devin at an altitude of 685 m, just upstream of the Vacha Reservoir . Its drainage basin covers a territory of 427 km or 26% of Vacha's total and borders the drainage basins of the Stara reka and small left tributaries of

240-633: The Maritsa at an altitude of 163 m about 1.3 km northeast of the village of Kadievo . Its drainage basin covers a territory of 1,645 km or 3.1% of Maritsa's total and borders the drainage basins of the Parvenetska reka and Chepelarska reka to the east, the Arda to the southeast, the Mesta to the southwest and the Chepinska reka and Stara reka to the west. The river receives numerous tributaries,

264-502: The Vacha are used for electricity generation, as the main part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade (500.2 MW). There are four reservoirs constructed along its course, all of them with hydro power stations: Teshel (60 MW), Tsankov Kamak (86.4 MW), Vacha (164.8 MW) and Krichim (80 MW). Part of the waters of the upper course of the tributaries Devnenska reka and Gashnya are diverted west to

SECTION 10

#1732883748606

288-550: The Vacha to the north, the Chepinska reka and to the west and northwest, the Mesta to the southwest, and small left tributaries of the Vacha to the south. The Devinska reka has numerous small tributaries. The river has rain-snow feed with high water in April–May and low water in October. The average annual discharge at Devin is 5 m /s. The river and its valley harbour rich wildlife. The protected area The Course of Devinska reka

312-493: The beetle Lucanus cervus . There are a number of Balkan or Rhodopean endemic plant species, such as Haberlea rhodopensis , Seseli rhodopeum , Sedum kostovi , Campanula lanata and Lathrea rhodopea , as well as other rare species, including Genista lydia and Galanthus nivalis . The ecologic trail Struilitsa–Kaleto–Lakata is constructed along the meanders of the Devnenska reka. A small path branches off from

336-471: The critically endangered European eel . The asp is considered extinct from the river. The lower valley of the Vacha is among the prime butterfly areas of Bulgaria, where several species of conservational importance are found, including Zerynthia polyxena , Pieris ergane , Scolitantides orion , Glaucopsyche alexis , Apatura metis , Neptis rivularis , Nymphalis xanthomelas and Melitaea trivia . There are several protected areas along

360-792: The main ecological trail and leads to the Samodivsko Praskalo waterfall, among the tallest in the Rhodope Mountains, with two falls of 25 m and 45 m. The river flows in Pazardzhik and Smolyan Provinces . There is a single settlement along its course, the spa town of Devin, situated at the confluence with the Vacha. The waters of Devinska reka are used for electricity generation. There are two small reservoirs along its upper course, Beglika and Toshkov Chark, as well as two major reservoir along its upper tributaries, Golyam Beglik and Shiroka Polyana , which divert part of its waters to

384-670: The most important being the Devinska reka (57 km, left), the Shirokolashka reka (29 km, right) and the Gashnya (20 km, left). The Vacha has rain-snow feed with high water in April–May and low water in October. The average annual discharge at Krichim is 22 m /s. The river and the reservoirs along its course are rich in fish, including autochthonous species such as Macedonian vimba , stone loach , spined loach , round-scaled barbel , river trout , northern pike and

408-474: The power plant is channelled via a 3 km long unpressurised sewer with a cross-section of 2.80 m x 2.80 m to the "Nova Mahala" collection tank, which then flows into the Batak Reservoir . Vacha (river) The Vacha ( Bulgarian : Въча ) is a river in southern Bulgaria , a right tributary of the river Maritsa . The 112 km long Vacha is the 23rd longest river of Bulgaria and the second longest in

432-480: The river turns north and along most of its course flows through deep canyon-like valley until it enters the Upper Thracian Plain at the town of Krichim . In that section, there are only a few places where the valley widens — at the settlements of Teshel, Grohotno , Devin and Mihalkovo . In the Upper Thracian Plain the current is slow, in a wide sandy riverbed with protective dikes. The Vacha flows into

456-878: The river. Izgoryaloto Gyune nature reserve along its left banks south of Krichim conserves the only population of Greek juniper ( Juniperus excelsa ) in the Rhodope Mountains, and one of the two in Bulgaria. Another nature reserve along its course is Kastrakli near Devin, established to protect old-growth forests of Austrian pine ( Pinus nigra ). Its lower course is included in the River Vacha Thrace protected area under Natura 2000 to conserve hydrophilic communities of tall grasses, alluvial forests of common alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) and European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) and riparian galleries of white willow ( Salix alba ) and silver poplar ( Populus alba ). The river flows entirely in Smolyan and Plovdiv Provinces , and along

480-683: The summit of Golyama Syutkya (2,186 m) in the Batak Mountain of the western Rhodope Mountains. It flows in a deep forested valley along its while course, initially flowing south and then changing direction to the northeast, southeast and again south. Between the Beglika State Forestry and the Toshkov Chark Reservoir in its upper course, the river is also known as the Beglishka reka. Downstream of Toshkov Chark it flows east through

504-512: The third class III-197 road Gotse Delchev – Dospat –Devin follows the river between Teshel and Devin, and a 58.1 km stretch of the third class III-866 road Smolyan –Devin– Stamboliyski follows it between Devin and Stamboliyski. Following the construction of the Tsankov Kamak Hydro Power Plant in 2010 a 16.6 km section of the road was submerged and a new one was constructed via the village of Lyaskovo . The waters of

SECTION 20

#1732883748606

528-417: The village of Kozhari , in the immediate vicinity of the border between Bulgaria and Greece. The main river is formed at the confluence of the Buynovska reka (left) and the Chairdere (right) at an altitude of 847 m in the village of Teshel . In its uppermost course it flows in a northwestern direction in a wide valley, covered with meadows, forests and small farms. Downstream of the village of Buynovo ,

552-463: Was developed by Dimo Velev, Kiril Grigorov, Gichev and others. It included dams, equalising devices and three power plants - Batak HPP (underground), Peshtera HPP (underground) and Aleko HPP (above ground). Batak HPP was commissioned in 1958 and was the first underground HPP in Bulgaria. The turbines are driven by water that comes from the Golyam Beglik dam via a pressure diversion. The dam has

576-535: Was established in 2002 along the river in Borino and Devin municipalities and covers an territory of 1.40 km . It was created to conserve rare flora and fauna, and the pristine riparian forests of common alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) and European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ). The predominant fish species are river trout , round-scaled barbel and common minnow . The zone protects important populations of brown bear , chamois , red deer and Eurasian otter , as wells as

#605394