The Gashnya ( bg, Гашня) is a 20 km long river in southern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...
, flowing through
Pazardzhik
Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality.
The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in ...
and
Smolyan Province
Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...
s. It is a left tributary of the Vacha, itself a right tributary of the
Maritsa
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of , There are no settlements along its course.
The river springs at an altitude of 2,018 m from the southeastern slopes of the summit of Batashki Snezhnik (2,082 m) in the Batak Mountain of the western
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder i ...
. It flows in eastern–southeastern direction in a deep forested valley. At an altitude of 689 m the Gashnya flows into the Tsankov Kamak Reservoir, just upstream of its dam, constructed on the river Vacha.
Its drainage basin covers a territory of 54 km2, or 3.3% of the Vacha's total. The Gashnya has predominantly rain–snow feed with high water in April–May and low water in October. Part of the waters along its upper course are diverted west to be utilized for electricity generation at the
Batak Hydropower Cascade
The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade ( bg, Баташки водносилов път, translit. ''Batashki Vodnosilov Pat'') is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is among the first hydroelectric cascades in the country. Inaugu ...
(254 MW), while the rest are utilized at the
Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade
The Dospat–Vacha Hydroelectric Cascade ( bg, Каскада "Доспат–Въча") is situated in the western Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria, on the territory of the Smolyan Province, Smolyan, Pazardzhik Province, Pazardzhik and Plov ...