Understanding how rivers can be affected by human

activity

River Regime - Shows how a river’s discharge changes over a year. These graphs all start in November. May is the highest discharge for the Dunaj.

Discharge – Is the amount of water flowing in a river. It is measured in CUMECS (cubic metres per second)

The Dunaj can have over 4000 cumecs flowing at Bratislava.

Discharge =

Precipitation – Evapotranspiration +/- Stores

Tributary of the Danube River in Slovakia. Rising in the Tatra Mountains as the Biely Váh (in the High Tatras) and Cierny Váh (in the Low Tatras), the river describes a long arc to the west and south. It joins the Little Danube to become the Váh Danube (Vázský Dunaj), which forms the eastern limit of Great Rye Island, and after several miles enters the Danube River at Komárno, in extreme southern Slovakia, after a course of 242 miles (390 km). The area of its drainage basin is 4,109 square miles (10,641 square km). The Váh has a large number of tributaries, many of which fall steeply off the Tatras and the outer ranges of the Carpathians. The east-west valley formed by its upper course provides a natural transportation route across Slovakia that is followed by major road and rail arteries; the river's north-south valley between Zilina and Bratislava similarly serves as a corridor. The river flows rapidly—particularly when swollen by seasonal meltwater, since the Tatras have few storage lakes—through a picturesque valley. There are numerous small hydroelectric-power stations along the Váh.

Drainage Basin

Watershed

Drainage Basin

Watershed

If the discharge increases too much too quickly it overflows the banks of the river and floods the floodplain.

How would the changes being proposed for the area affect the river?• Deforestation on

the slopes to make way for ski runs.

• More roads and concrete.

• More hotels more people in the area.

• More waste and pollution.

Less water is intercepted and transpired more water quickly flows into river

Less infiltration, so more water quickly flowing into the river.

More people at risk, also maybe water shortages in summer season.

River becomes polluted and flora and fauna affected.