The Warta is a river in central-western Poland. It flows through the territory of the Silesian, Lodz, Wielkopolska and Lubusz Voivodeships. It is a right tributary of the Oder River. The length of the Warta is greater than the length of the Oder above its confluence. It is 762 km long. The catchment area is 54 529 km².
The course of the river
It rises near Kromołowo, the oldest part of the town of Zawiercie in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura (Wyżyna Krakowsko-Częstochowska) and then flows into the Wielkopolska Lowland. In the town of Częstochowa it changes direction and flows northwards in a narrow valley. At the town of Kolo, it turns west into the Wartsko-Oderskie Upland. Near Śrem, the Poznań Warta Gorge begins. Beyond Poznań, it passes the Noteckie Forest to the west and flows into the Toruń-Eberswald Valley. In the town of Santok it receives its largest tributary, the Noteć. In separate sections it uses the depressions created by glacial runoff. It joins the Oder at the German border in Kostrin, above which the Warta Estuary National Park was created.
Tributaries of the Warta
from left – Kiełbaska, Liswarta, Prosna, Obra, Postomia
from right – Widawka, Rgielewka, Ner, Meszna, Wełna, Noteć, Kłodawka, Cybina
Settlement
On the river lie the towns of Zawiercie, Myszków, Čenstochová, Działoszyn, Sieradz, Warta, Uniejów, Kolo, Konin, Pyzdry, Śrem, Mosina, Puszczykowo, Luboň, Poznaň, Oborniki, Obrzycko, Wronki, Sieraków, Międzychód, Skwierzyna, Gorzów Wielkopolski and Kostřín nad Odrou.
Water regime
The water level is higher in spring (March, April), while flash floods may occur in summer and autumn. It does not freeze every year. The average long-term flow is 215 m³/s. It is regulated by weirs over a length of 350 km.
Uses of the Warta
Water transport is possible on the river to Poznań and for smaller boats to the mouth of the left tributary of the Prosna. It is connected to the Vistula River basin via the navigable tributary Noteć and the Bydgoszcz Canal between the towns of Nakło nad Notecią and Bydgoszcz.
