The Bělá is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, a right

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Divoká Orlice The Divoká Orlice (, ) is a river in the Czech Republic and Poland. It flows through Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland and through the Hradec Králové and Pardubice regions. It is the upper and middle course of the Orlice, but usually it is c ...

River. It flows through the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region (, ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec Králové. The region neighbours the Pardubice Region in t ...

. It is long.

Etymology

Bělá is a common Czech name of watercourses, derived from the Czech word ''bílá'' (i.e. 'white'). Names of rivers with this colour in the name often referred to the stony or pebbly nature of the river bed.

Characteristic

The Bělá originates in the territory of Sedloňov in the

Orlické Mountains The Orlické Mountains (, , ) or Eagle Mountains are a mountain range located mainly in northeastern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is a mesoregion of the Central Sudetes. They follow the border with Kłodzko Land in Poland Poland, of ...

below the mountain

Velká Deštná Velká Deštná () is a mountain in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. With an elevation of , it is the highest mountain of the Orlické Mountains and of the whole Central Sudetes range. There is an observation tower on top of the ...

at an elevation of and flows to

Častolovice Častolovice () is a market town in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. Etymology The name is derived from the personal name Častolov, meaning "the village of Často ...

, where it enters the Divoká Orlice River at an elevation of . It is long. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

has an area of . The average discharge at its mouth is 2.39 m3/s. The longest tributaries of the Bělá are:

Course

The river flows through the municipal territories of Sedloňov, Deštné v Orlických horách,

Liberk Liberk is a municipality and village in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. It is known for the wooden Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which is protected as a national ...

, Osečnice, Skuhrov nad Bělou,

Kvasiny Kvasiny () is a municipality and village in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Kvasiny is from 1544. The village belonged to the ...

, Solnice, Černíkovice, Třebešov, Lično,

Hřibiny-Ledská Hřibiny-Ledská is a municipality in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. Administrative division Hřibiny-Ledská consists of three municipal parts (in brackets popula ...

Libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, Synkov-Slemeno and

Bodies of water

There are 122 bodies of water in the basin area. The largest of them is the fishpond Černíkovický rybník with an area of , built on the Chobot Brook.

Canals

About 1 km before the mouth, the river divides and part of the water continues through the Alba Canal. It is a long canal, connecting the Bělá with the

Dědina The Dědina (also called Zlatý potok) is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another riv ...

River. The canal was gradually built from the end of the 14th century until 1550. It used to feed a system of fishponds, which no longer exist today. It is a historically important example of landscape modifications in the Middle Ages, which is protected as a cultural monument. A cultural and technical monument is also the canal Dlouhá strouha, located in Kvasiny. It was built at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries to power the large Černíkovice mill. The upper part of the canal was also used to supply several factories with water.

References

External links

River flow at Častolovice station
– Flood Warning and Forecasting Service of the

Czech Hydrometeorological Institute The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI; ) is the central state office of the Czech Republic in the fields of air quality, meteorology, climatology and hydrology. It is an organization established by the Ministry of the Environment of the Cz ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bela (Divoka Orlice) Rivers of the Hradec Králové Region Rivers of the Czech Republic