Nevėžis Regiment

The Nevėžis () is the sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Nemunas. Its length is , and it flows only within the geographical confines of Lithuania.Statistical Yearbook of Lithuania 2014
p. 12 It is the second longest river in Lithuania, after the Šventoji, that flows exclusively within its borders. Its source is in the Anykščiai District Municipality, and the river first flows in a northwesterly direction, but then at Panevėžys turns towards the southwest, and passing Kėdainiai, flows into the Neman just west of Kaunas near Raudondvaris.

Name

There is a popular misconception that the name ''Nevėžis'' means "a river without crayfishes" because ''vėžys'' is the Lithuanian word for crayfish and ''ne'' means "no". In fact, the Nevėžis is known for its variety of fauna which include crayfish. Other ethimology suggested from proto-Baltic *''nevēźā-'' (ex. Lithuainian ''ne-vežti'' 'not to carry') and means 'slow, not-conveying river'. The Soviet-Belarusian geographer suggested that the name ''Nevėžis'' could be derived from a Finnish word ''nevo'' meaning "swamp". The upper river has swampy banks.

The river gave name to many things including Panevėžys, the fifth largest city in Lithuania. Its name means " ownnear Nevėžis." FK Nevėžis and KK Nevėžis are also named after the river. The Nevėžis is important in Lithuanian culture because it flows through the middle of Lithuania. During the Middle Ages, the river was considered to be a natural border between two regions of Lithuania: Samogitia and Aukštaitija.

History

Natural environment

Nevėžis has about seventy tributaries. The largest are:
* left: Alanta, Juoda, Upytė, Linkava, Brasta, Žalesys, Alkupis, Obelis, Šerkšnys, Ašarėna, Barupė, Gynia;
* right: Juosta, Kiršinas, Liaudė, Kruostas, Dotnuvėlė, Smilga, Šušvė (14th longest river in Lithuania), Aluona, Strūna.

In 1992, the Krekenava Regional Park was established in order to preserve the Middle Nevėžis ecosystem and natural surroundings. The park is unique because it breeds and tries to protect from extinction wisents, the European bison.

Even with two canals supplying Nevėžis with water, it becomes very shallow during a drier summer. Regularly it is between 4 and 9 meters deep. In more recent years, a number of grass carp was introduced to the river for aquatic weed control. The Nevėžis, due to its low level of water, slow current, and influx of the run-off of fertilizers from agriculture, was becoming more and more overgrown with weeds. It was hoped that the introduction of grass carp would help to control the process. Critics argued that the fish would not survive in the relatively cold climate. However, local fishermen still catch carp introduced several years ago.

Canals

The Nevėžis is connected with two other large rivers by canals. In order to reduce floods on the Lėvuo

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