Vjosa - Selenicë
Downstream from Kutë, the sinuosity of the Vjosa River increases and the gradient decreases. In the lower part of the middle reaches near the small mining town of Selenicë and the villages of Armen and Mesarak, the river basin is characterised by a very high susceptibility to disturbance, a high sediment supply and a high potential for bank erosion.
Downstream from Kutë, the sinuosity of the Vjosa River increases and the gradient decreases. In the lower part of the middle reaches near the small mining town of Selenicë and the villages of Armen and Mesarak, the river basin is characterised by a very high susceptibility to disturbance, a high sediment supply and a high potential for bank erosion.
Selenicë is famous for its natural bitumen deposit, known since ancient times. The deposit, located almost directly on the bank of the Vjosa River, gained importance in 1871 under the management of French entrepreneurs. Later, in 1922, it came under the management of an Italian company. At that time Selenicë bitumen, unique in its category in Europe, was used for paving the streets and squares of Paris and Milan.
During the communist regime the bitumen mine was owned by the state.
Production grew, together with the number of employees. As a result, the local population also grew and a number of blocks of flats were built in the town.
Because of the proximity of the river banks to the bitumen mine and refinery, the communist leadership ordered their reforestation to mitigate erosion.
However, after the fall of the regime in 1991, due to the social, economic and political crisis in the country and the general poverty, many trees, including plane trees, poplars and acacias, were cut down by locals for firewood or by small local companies selling wood on the Albanian market.
These changes have not been overlooked by the locals, who can designate almost exactly the places where the riverine environment has changed due to deforestation and the resulting bank erosion and detours in the stream.
Since 2001, the bitumen deposit has been managed by the Selenicë Bitumni company, a subsidiary owned by the French group KLP Mines. Due to its sophisticated technology, it employs 110 workers, which has led to a massive migration from the town. Today Selenicë counts about 2,235 inhabitants (2011 census). Since 2015, with the new government reform, Selenicë has gained the status of municipality where the Aromanian ethnic minority predominates.
After Selenicë, the Vjosa is joined by the tributary Shushica. Further south, towards Novosele and Mifol, the slope of the watershed decreases and the valley becomes wider.
In the lower catchment, the Vjosa riverbed widens and gradually flows into the Adriatic Sea north of the Narta Lagoon.
