- Rawa River
Infobox River | river_name = Rawa
caption = Rawa flowing throughKatowice
origin =Ruda Śląska
mouth =Brynica ,Sosnowiec
basin_countries =Poland
length = 19,6 km
watershed = 89,8 km²;Rawa (pronounced: IPA-pl|,|r|a|w|a), older name "Roździanka") is a minor
river (about 19.6 kilometres in total length) inSilesia ,Poland . http://www.bspnews.kiss.pl/bspnews/991/991-34.htm#RAWA Rawa River Project ] It is the largest righttributary of theBrynica , itself a tributary of thePrzemsza , which in turn is a tributary of theVistula . The entire length of the Rawa is within theUpper Silesian Metropolitan Union . It has its source inRuda Śląska and crosses the cities ofŚwiętochłowice ,Chorzów andKatowice . Finally inSosnowiec it joins theBrynica River only several hundred metres before the latter joins withCzarna Przemsza .The Rawa has lost most of its natural river character, and is now mostly a
sewage channel flowing underground. Works have begun in order to restore it back to anecologically sound water flow. http://www.panorama-miast.com.pl/31/html/katowice.htm Green Determination of the Silesia Region ]Characteristics
The river has a source in the Marcin pond in
Ruda Śląska . It flows throughŚwiętochłowice ,Chorzów ,Katowice ,Mysłowice and finallySosnowiec where it joinsBrynica just before the latter joins withCzarna Przemsza .During much of its route it flows underground, beneath the city's infrastructure. It is filled by rain, as well as sewage. It has several small confluences, such as Potok Leśny (near
University of Economics in Katowice ).Polution
The river is notorious for being heavily polluted. Reported to be crystal clear in 1875, the
industrialization ofSilesia caused the river to become so polluted that all the fish died out by 1893. The continued growth of industry and cities throughout the 20th century, combined with little effort towards preserving the environment, continued to degrade the quality of the water in the river. In 1992, the river, leaving Katowice, was claimed to contain only 14% water [ [http://www.american.edu/ted/polwaste.htm Poland Waste Imports ] ] , and a popular joke among the local citizens was to warn each other 'not to throw a lit match into the river'. Currently upper part of the river is officially classified as sewage and the plan is to direct the entire river flow through a treatment plant. [ [http://www.chorzow-online.pl/klimzowiec/Klimzowiec1.htm oczyszczalnia scieków klimzowiec ] ] In the 1990s plans to improve water quality and restore the ecology of the river have begun. So far new sewage treatment plants have been completed, and the plan is supposed to significantly improve the river's quality by 2010.Regulation of flow
The primary reason for the regulation of the Rava's flow was the need to prevent
flooding asmining continued to lower the level of local lands. The first plans for controlling the flow date to 1863. Plans to regulate the entire length of the Rawa were ready in 1903. The start of theFirst World War interrupted Prussian government implementation. After the war, the German plans were continued by the government of theSecond Polish Republic in the late 1920s, with the construction of asewage treatment plant (no longer existing). The work was completed in 1938, but the correct flow conditions did not last because of the continued lowering of the land. The second regulation of the river was conducted between 1975 and 1993.Name
Sources first mention the river in 1737, as "Róździanka" - from an old village of Roździeń, now part of Katowice's district of
Szopienice . The etymology of the name "Rawa" (Rava) is ancient. The name is related to [ [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/etymology.cgi?single=1&basename=/data/ie/piet&text_number=1338&root=config Indo-European etymological dictionary] ] Protoindoeuropean: *er [e] (w)-, *rē(w)- (meaning quiet); Germanic: *rḗw-ō, *rṓw-ō, *rōw-a- (Old English: rōw, -e `quiet, rest'; Middle Dutch: rouwe, rowe; Middle Low German: rouwe, rōwe; rāwe; Old High German: ruowa (AD 800), rāwa (9 century); Middle High German: ruowe, ruo, rāwe, rouwe, German Ruhe).References
External links
*pl icon [http://katowice.naszemiasto.pl/wydarzenia/582837.html Rawa będzie odkryta?]
Notes
*Polish|Rawa|27 February 2007
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