Bega (Tisza)

Romania The river starts at the confluence of its headwaters, Bega Luncanilor and Bega Poienilor. After flowing north, the river bends to the west at Curtea, passing through Făget, Balinț, and Topolovățu Mare, where it enters the low Banat plains. There, it begins to spill over, so the Bega Canal was constructed tracking Bega Veche, which is also channelled for , as a parallel waterway for , before the two rejoin northeast of Zrenjanin, Serbia. The Bega Canal runs through Timișoara and continues to the southwest, enters Serbia near the village of Srpski Itebej. Serbia Near Klek and Novi Itebej, the Begej becomes part of the large Danube–Tisa–Danube Canal (DTD) and turns south, receiving waters from the Stari Begej. There it is separated from DTD route turning west and reaching Zrenjanin. From there it continues to the south, using the old river bed of the Tisa, passing through Ečka, Stajićevo, and Perlez. In this part, it flows through marshlands, some of which are transformed into the Ečka fish pond, the largest one in Serbia with an area of . The remaining parts of wetland make the largest swamp in Serbia, Carska Bara (11 km2; 4¼ sq. mi.), after which Begej empties into the Tisa. ==Characteristics==

Through the Tisa and Danube rivers, it belongs to the Black Sea catchment basin. Its own catchment area is . In the 17th century, the river was used for the transportation of wood and for the draining of the surrounding marshy lands. After the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz when the Habsburg monarchy acquired the Banat area, new Austrian authorities began concurrent construction of two parallel channeled flows. One included the channeling of the Bega Veche or Stari Begej. Originally long, today it is a bit shorter and is actually a tributary to the Bega. It is mostly used for draining. The second channel is the modern Bega flow, previously known as the Navigable Begej. It included the long section between Timișoara (now in Romania) and Klek (now in Serbia). The river was previously used for dumping of the wastewater. Four complexes of locks-sluices were built from 1910 to 1912 which allowed for constant navigation, regardless of the periods of low water levels. Today two are in Romania (Sânmihaiu Român, Sânmartinu Maghiar) and two are in Serbia (Itebej, Klek). It was navigable for ships up to 500 tons. Also, floods were regulated, too. Due to the lack of proper maintenance, the Serbian section of the channel stopped being navigable in 1958. Due to the deteriorating state of the locks, even the recreational sailing was banned so the water was used only for irrigation and for supplying the fishponds. Works on the marina and an anchorage in Zrenjanin began in the summer of 2019, concurrently with the construction of the bicycle path to the Romanian border. As the works began in 2019, the deadline was moved to 2023, but the anchorage should be finished by 2022. Additional works includes the cleaning and revitalization of the river itself. By 2019, Romanian part of the river was completely cleaned, as the problems with the pollution were solved, partially due to the shut down of the dirt industries and partially because of the implemented treatment of the waste. On Serbian side, nothing has been on the pollution prevention and the major sources of pollution are the town of Zrenjanin itself and the Ečka fishponds, which also polluted the nearby Carska Bara nature reserve. Settlements on Begej include the villages of Srpski Itebej (with a huge fishpond), Novi Itebej, Torak (formerly Begejci) and Žitište. ==Tributaries==

The following rivers are tributaries to the river Bega (in downstream order): • Left: Bega Luncanilor, Carpen, Șopot, Vădana, Zopana, Gladna, Glavița • Right: Bega Poienilor, Năndreasca, Icui, Coștei, Bunea, Cladova, Nieregiș, Fădimac, Miniș, Chizdia, Iosifalău, Mociur, Valea Țiganului, Gherteamoș, Remetea, Behela, Bega Veche Part of the water from the river Timiș is diverted towards the Bega by the Coșteiu–Chizătău Canal. == Settlements ==

Romania In downstream order: Margina, Făget, Răchita, Mănăștiur, Leucușești, Bethausen, Cutina, Bodo, Balinț, Chizătău, Ictar-Budinț, Topolovățu Mic, Recaș, Remetea Mare, Ghiroda, Timișoara, Utvin, Sânmihaiu Român, Uivar, Otelec Serbia In downstream order: Srpski Itebej, Novi Itebej, Torak, Žitište, Klek, Zrenjanin, Ečka, Lukino Selo, Stajićevo, Perlez, Titel ==See also==

Image:Begej_river_near_Ečka,_Serbia.jpg|The Bega near Ečka File:Mouth of the Begej into the Tisa.jpg|The mouth of the Bega into the Tisa, across Titel