Drava

Frequently asked questions

How many gauges does the Drava have?

The Drava water level is read at 24 gauges with daily readings: 12 in Croatia, 5 in Hungary, 4 in Slovenia, 2 in Austria and 1 in Italy. They cover 217 of the river's roughly 719 km, between kilometre 19 and kilometre 236.

What are the Drava's extremes?

The series records are 627 cm at the Belišće gauge, on 22 July 1972, 542 cm at the Osijek gauge, on 25 June 1965, and 424 cm at Varaždin, on 5 September 1965. The lows fell to -209 cm at Osijek, on 22 October 2026, to -16 cm at Belišće, on 21 October, and to -30 cm at Varaždin, on 2 May 1982.

Which official thresholds does the Drava have?

None on the platform: the Drava water level is read at gauges without LDC or HDC, and the Croatian defence steps are not published here. What remains are the series records, the highs and lows with their dates.

How navigable is the Drava?

From the mouth to Osijek there are 22 km of international waterway, barges of 1,500 t go up to Belišće, and navigation is possible 250–260 days a year. At low water a sandbank forms at the mouth, and the Danube level at Aljmaš shows the river below the confluence.

How is the Copernicus model series read on the Drava?

The Copernicus model series, GloFAS and EFAS, is computed discharge in cubic metres per second, not a gauge reading, so it is not compared with centimetres. It is read next to the measured discharge, which exists at 8 of the 24 gauges, and it has its own uncertainty and horizon. The model is not a flood warning.

When does low water come on the Drava?

The regime is nival: high water comes between May and July, and the usual lows in winter, in January–March. Recent droughts have brought lows at the end of summer too, and in 2026 the record fell on 22 October.