The Vsetínská Bečva (also called Horní Bečva; , ''Obere Betsch'') 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 ...

. It flows through the

Zlín Region Zlín Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Moravia. It is named after its capital Zlín. Together with the Olomouc Region it forms a cohesion area of Central M ...

. It is the upper course of the

Bečva The Bečva (; , ''Betsch'') is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Morava River. It flows through the Olomouc and Zlín regions. It is formed by the confluence of the Vsetínská Bečva and Rožnovská Bečva rivers. Together ...

, but usually it is considered a separate river. Until its confluence with the

Rožnovská Bečva The Rožnovská Bečva is a river in the Czech Republic, the secondary source river of the Bečva River. It flows through the Zlín Region. It is long. Etymology The name Bečva is derived from the old Czech words ''bek'', ''beč'' (i.e. 'cry'), ...

, when it further continues as Bečva, the Vsetínská Bečva is long.

Etymology

The name Bečva is derived from the old Czech words ''bek'', ''beč'' (i.e. 'cry'), meaning 'loud river'. The attribute Vsetínská is derived from the town of

Vsetín Vsetín () is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Originally a small town, Vsetín has become an important centre of industrial, economic, cultural and sports life during the 20th century. Administ ...

. The river is also called Horní Bečva ('upper Bečva').

Characteristic

From a water management point of view, the Bečva and Vsetínská Bečva are two different rivers with separate numbering of river kilometres. The Vsetínská Bečva originates in the territory of

Velké Karlovice Velké Karlovice is a municipality and village in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400 inhabitants. The municipality lies on the Vsetínská Bečva River. Administrative division Velké Karlovice consists ...

in the

Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains () is a mountain range in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The mountains are densely forested mainly by secondary spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of conifer ...

at an elevation of and then flows to

Valašské Meziříčí Valašské Meziříčí (; ) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monum ...

, where it merges with the

River at an elevation of and continues as Bečva. 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 , of which is in the Czech Republic. The longest tributaries of the Vsetínská Bečva are:

Course

The most notable settlement on the river is the town of

. The river flows through the municipal territories of

, Karolinka,

Nový Hrozenkov Nový Hrozenkov is a market town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,500 inhabitants. Etymology After its establishment, the municipality was first Nová Dědina (literally 'new village') or Rozinkov, prob ...

, Halenkov, Huslenky, Hovězí,

Janová Janová () is a municipality and village in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Janová lies on the Vsetínská Bečva, approximately south-east of Vsetín, east of Zlín, and east of Prague ...

, Ústí, Vsetín, Ratiboř, Pržno, Jablůnka, Mikulůvka, Bystřička, Jarcová and

Bodies of water

There are no reservoirs and fishponds built directly on the Vsetínská Bečva. There are 165 bodies of water in the basin area. The largest of them are the Karolinka Reservoir with an area of and Bystřička Reservoir with an area of .

Tourism

The Vsetínská Bečva is suitable for river tourism. About of the river is navigable. The river is best navigable in spring and after the rains. There are several weirs on the river that are dangerous for paddlers.

References

External links

River flow at Jarcová 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:Vsetinska Becva Rivers of the Zlín Region Rivers of the Czech Republic