📑 Table of Contents▼
Cervo
The old bridge at Piedicavallo in the Valle del Cervo
Cervo location
Location
CountryItaly: provinces of Biella and Vercelli
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationLago della Vecchia - Prealpi biellesi (BI)
 • elevation1,900 m (6,200 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
River Sesia near Quinto Vercellese (VC)
 • coordinates
45°22′06″N 8°24′12″E / 45.3682°N 8.4033°E / 45.3682; 8.4033
 • elevation
127.5 m (418 ft)
Length65 km (40 mi)
Basin size
1,024 km2 (395 mi2)[1]
Discharge 
 • average(mouth) 21.9 m3/s (770 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression‹See Tfd›

Sesia→ ‹See Tfd›

Po→ Adriatic Sea
Tributaries 
 • leftMologna, Chiobbia, Nelva, Strona di Mosso, Ostola, Guarabione, Rovasenda, Marchiazza
 • rightIrogna, Pragnetta, Oropa, Roggia Drumma, Roggia Ottina, Elvo

The Cervo (Piedmontese: Sar or Serv) is a 65-kilometre (40 mi) torrent (a form of seasonally intermittent stream) in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy. It is the principal tributary of the river Sesia, which itself is a significant tributary of the Po.

Etymology

edit

The name Cervo rather than from the Latin cervus (deer) should come from the Germanic saar (stream or river).[2]

Geography

edit
The Cervo crossing Po plain near Quinto Vercellese

It crosses the provinces of Biella (communes of Piedicavallo, Rosazza, Campiglia Cervo, Sagliano Micca, Andorno Micca, Tollegno, Biella, Candelo and Castelletto Cervo) and Vercelli (Quinto Vercellese).

The Cervo’s source is the Lago della Vecchia[3] (close to the Rifugio della Vecchia) in the Biellese Prealps. From the Lago della Vecchia it flows rapidly through a large number of communes of the Valle del Cervo. Close to Tollegno it receives the torrent Oropa from the right then crosses the eastern part of the city of Biella, in particular the quarter of Chiavazza.

From here the valley widens and the torrent flows more slowly along a broad and pebbly stream bed. In this section of its course the Cervo is united with a number of modest tributaries: the Mologna, the Chiebbia, the Lu Rialet and the Bruma. Near the town of Cossato the flow grows visibly when the torrent is joined from the left by the Strona di Mosso. Near Castelletto Cervo it receives the waters of the Ostola and enters the plain of the province of Vercelli.

In the Vercellese plain, where the Canale Cavour crosses over the torrent, the Cervo is significantly enriched by the contribution of numerous minor water courses and canals. In the area of Collobiano it is joined by more important torrents: the Rovasenda and Marchiazza from the left and from the right the Elvo, its most important tributary.

At this point the Cervo turns from a torrent into a river which can be expected to flow continuously throughout the year. It advances lazily towards the Sesia which it joins near Quinto Vercellese as its most important tributary.

Main tributaries

edit
Main tributaries location

Left hand:

Right hand:

Regime

edit
The torrent at Biella

Despite the Cervo’s generous mean discharge of about 22 cubic metres per second (780 cu ft/s)[1] at its confluence with the Sesia, its regime is sharply torrential. The highest rates of flow occur with the melting of the prealpine snows in the late spring, and above all with the autumn rains. The latter can lead to such disastrous floods as occurred in 1968 and 2002. In the summer, however, the discharge is much diminished and significant tracts may dry up completely as a result of the heavy exploitation of its water.

Angling and water quality

edit

The Cervo is classified as a “Category A” water course in the upper Valle Cervo from its source to Biella; here trouts are present. Beyond Biella and in the Vercellese plain members of the carp family are found and it falls into “Category B”.

See also

edit

Notes and references

edit
  1. ^ a b Piano di tutela delle acque (AI 18 - Cervo); Regione Piemonte - Direzione Pianificazione delle Risorse Idriche - 2007 (on-line in pdf) Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ AA.VV. (2002). Biella e provincia (in Italian). Touring Club Italiano. p. 83.
  3. ^ The Vecchia is an old woman of a local legend, who tamed a bear
  4. ^ CTR (Carta Tecnica Regionale) 1:10.000, Regione Piemonte, Settore Cartografico and Settore Sistema Informativo Territoriale, 2007 raster version
The initial version of this article was a translation of this version of the article it:Cervo (torrente) in the Italian Wikipedia.

Other projects

edit

Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Cervo (torrent) at Wikimedia Commons

📚 Artikel Terkait di Wikipedia

Cervo

Cervo may refer to: Cervo, Liguria, a comune in the province of Imperia in the region of Liguria Cervo (river), a tributary of the River Sesia in the Piedmont

Hydrography of the Biella region

Biella, Italy, falls almost entirely in the two basins of the Cervo and Sessera rivers, both tributaries of the Sesia. Some areas of the southwestern

List of rivers of Italy

Dora Baltea Buthier Évançon Lys Chiusella Sesia Sessera Strona di Postua Cervo Strona di Mosso Ostola Marchiazza Rovasenda Elvo Agogna Erbognone Terdoppio

Leitneria

Italy several endocarps of L. venosa have been found at the top of the Cervo River of Late Pliocene age. Leitneria was a rare element in the late Cenozoic

Ostola

then enters the Po plain and near Castelletto Cervo it flows into the river Cervo. "Web-site of the river Po watershed Authority (Autorità di bacino del

Chiavazza

eastern sector of the city, to which it is connected by a bridge above the Cervo River, and was once a separate commune. It is crossed by the Via Milano, which

Castellengo Castle

first hills at the edge of the Biellese plain, on the right bank of the Cervo river. Angela Crosta (2014-10-26). "Cossato (BI) : Castello di Castellengo"

Elvo

Piedmont region of north-west Italy and is the principal tributary of the Cervo. It runs through the communes of Sordevolo, Occhieppo Superiore, Occhieppo