Kuniščak
Kuniščak is a torrential stream in Zagreb, Croatia. It emerges on the foothills of Medvednica Mountain and flows south through the city into the River Sava.[1] Earlier in Zagreb's history, Kuniščak was the location of flour mills, which came under control of Zagreb millers' and bakers' corporation (Croatian: ceh) in early 19th century.[2] In mid-20th century, most of the stream was placed underground, covered by streets and walkways, including Kuniščak street, Krapinska Street, Trešnjevka Square and Yuri Gagarin Promenade.[3][4][5] Kuniščak used to drain into Sava through the Savica meander in the area of modern-day Trnjanska Savica and Folnegovićevo naselje until the construction of the embankments following the 1964 Zagreb flood, when Savica was artificially cut off from the river, becoming an oxbow lake.[6]
![](../I/Tresnjevacki_trg.JPG.webp)
![](../I/Kuni%C5%A1%C4%8Dak_dam_building_cropped.jpg.webp)
Part of Zagreb's flood defences, the upper course is channelled through the Kuniščak retention basin, which retards torrential flow downstream during rainstorms,[7] while the lower course of Kuniščak collects water from many other Zagreb streams,[1] ending in a dammed outlet into Sava[8] which was constructed some time after 1977.[6] During the 2020 Zagreb flash flood, the Kuniščak dam was unstaffed and closed, causing storm water to pool in the city. Residents of nearby houses broke into the dam control building to open the dam themselves, releasing floodwaters into Sava. A controversy ensued over who was responsible for this failure of flood defences.[9]
References
- Andabaka, Damir; Senta Marić, Ankica; Gudelj, Ivana; Posavec, Sanja (2011). "Ugroženost potoka na području grada Zagreba". XV znanstveno - stručni skup Voda i javna vodoopskrba (in Croatian). Vinkovci, Croatia: 191–192.
- Kolar-Dimitrijević, Mira; Wagner, Elizabeta (1 October 2007). "Vodenice u Hrvatskoj (18. – 20. stoljeće) kao primjer odnosa između ljudi i rijeka/potoka". Ekonomska i ekohistorija: časopis za gospodarsku povijest i povijest okoliša (in Croatian). 3 (1): 90. ISSN 1845-5867.
- Šimpraga, Saša (21 April 2016). "Perspektive gradskih potoka" [Views of city streams]. H-Alter (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Program gradskog projekta Prostor središta Trešnjevke" (PDF) (in Croatian). City of Zagreb. March 2020. p. 29. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- Benačić, Ana (May 2015). "Kao u lošem vicu – kako je dnevni boravak za beskućnike završio na ulici". Nepokoreni Grad (5): 39. ISSN 1849-2584. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- Kunšten, Vanda (15 June 1977). "Žitnjak - industrijska zona Zagreba". Hrvatski geografski glasnik (in Croatian). Zagreb. 39 (1): 121–142. ISSN 1331-5854. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Provedbeni plan obrane od poplava branjenog područja 14: središnji dio područja maloga sliva Zagrebačko Prisavlje na Sektoru C – Gornja Sava" [Flood defence implementation plan for Defence Area 14: the central part of the Zagrebačko Prisavlje small catchment area on Sector C – Upper Sava] (PDF) (in Croatian). Hrvatske vode. March 2014. pp. 31–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Provedbeni plan obrane od poplava branjenog područja 14: središnji dio područja maloga sliva Zagrebačko Prisavlje na Sektoru C – Gornja Sava" [Flood defence implementation plan for Defence Area 14: the central part of the Zagrebačko Prisavlje small catchment area on Sector C – Upper Sava] (PDF) (in Croatian). Hrvatske vode. March 2014. pp. 5, 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Hrvatske vode smijenile voditelja koji je bio zadužen za poplavljenu ustavu u Trnju" [Hrvatske vode replace manager in charge of the flooded dam in Trnje]. Večernji list (in Croatian). 7 August 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.