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Rivers in the Czech Republic

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Assessment and Protection of Water Resources in the Czech Republic

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Abstract

Being an inland country in Central Europe with rugged relief and located on the main European divide of three seas, the Czech Republic has no other source of water than precipitation. Four major rivers and their numerous tributaries drain the Czech Republic and flow into the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. From a hydromorphologic point of view, two general regions exist within Czech Republic: (i) watercourses of the Bohemian Massif—characterized by minimal transport of bed loads and relatively stable channels; and (ii) watercourses of the Western Carpathians—characterized by significant transport of bed loads even during normal discharge and having dynamic channel development. Although there has been a significant improvement in water quality since 1990, substantial amounts of nitrate are transported downstream without uptake. Of the 76,000 km of natural watercourses, 28.4% are altered. One-third of the length of river channels important for water management has been altered, whereas nearly 40% of small streams in agricultural landscapes have been altered. Eutrophication, morphological alterations of the channels, and interruptions of sediment transport and fish migration are some of the main challenges for the management of our rivers.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Seth White for providing valuable commentary on this chapter and English language corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    M. Rulík

  2. Povodí Vltavy, State Enterprise, Praha, Czech Republic

    L. Opatřilová

  3. Research Facility, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences CR, Brno, Czech Republic

    P. Jurajda

  4. Povodí Labe, State Enterprise, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

    J. Špaček

  5. Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    V. Grulich

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  1. M. Rulík
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  2. L. Opatřilová
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  5. V. Grulich
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Correspondence to M. Rulík .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia

    Martina Zelenakova

  2. Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

    Jitka Fialová

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim M. Negm

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Rulík, M., Opatřilová, L., Jurajda, P., Špaček, J., Grulich, V. (2020). Rivers in the Czech Republic. In: Zelenakova, M., Fialová, J., Negm, A. (eds) Assessment and Protection of Water Resources in the Czech Republic. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18363-9_3

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