Česma is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in central

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, a left tributary of the river

Lonja-Trebež Lonja is a river in central Croatia, a left tributary of the Sava. It is long and its basin covers an area of . The Lonja rises in the Kalnik mountain in northern Croatia, southeast of Novi Marof, at . It flows westward until turning south near ...

. It is long, and its catchment area is . Created by merging streams ''Grđevica'' and ''Barna'' at near the village of Pavlovac in the municipality of Veliki Grđevac. Česma basin is fan-shaped and formed by a number of streams rising on the slopes of

Bilogora Bilogora (Bilo-gora, or ''Bilogorje'', ''Bilo-gorje'') is a low mountainous range in Central Croatia. It consists of a series of hills and small plains some 80 kilometres in length stretching in the direction northwest-southeast, along the southwest ...

and Moslavačka gora hills. Southern sides of Bilogora slightly goes downhill, rugged with numerous

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

, steeply and deeply cut in. On the sides appears numerous springs, that in the dry part of the year losing water. It has a small drop (small difference in altitude between the source and the mouth) which was causing frequent

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s before the regulation of the

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow ( channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood ...

. The area around the

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams a ...

of Česma till a hundred years ago was subject of flooding, which is why it was swampy. After that, Česma river and its

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainag ...

was channelized, embankments were built for flood protection, and the soil is dried to obtain

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

as well as the fight against

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. At the site of former

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s now are fish ponds that supply water from streams that flows into the Česma river. These ponds are one of the last refuge of

wading birds 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

between the Drava and

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

rivers. Along Česma river there are several major

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

complexes. North of Česma fish pond — ''ribnjačastvo Dubrava'', and along the southern coast fish ponds — ''Siščani'', ''Blatnica'' and ''Narta''. Both complexes are spread at about 5 kilometers along the course Česma river, and environment are similar. They are about 5 kilometers away to each other. The total area covered by commercial fish ponds is .Prostorni plan Bjelovarsko – bilogorske županije
(Spatial plan of

Bjelovar-Bilogora County Bjelovar-Bilogora County (; hr, Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija ) is a county in central Croatia. The central town of Bjelovar was first mentioned in 1413, and it only gained importance when a new fort was built in 1756 to defend against the ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cesma Rivers of Croatia