SLIDE 4 IL FIUME MELLA “Chiare, fresche dolci acque” surely true at the time when the flow of that river inspired the name Mella (lat. Mel, is) that is HONEY. Valle Trompia, more than any other Brescia valley’, ties its territory to the river that has dug for
- ver 40 kilometers from its source to the plains, determining the environment but also the attitudes
- f the population with its course faster and Alpine first , then slower and piedmont.
The basin of the Mella originates from the peaks of Mount Colombine, Mount Maniva and Corna Blacca, after a path that winds for 96 km, joins the Oglio near Ostiano. The northern section of the river flows in the Trompia Valley, fed by tributary basins Bondegno, Bavorgo, Mella of Sarle, Mella of Zerlo, Mella Irma, Avano, Valcavallina Marmentino, Lembrio, Vandeno, re of Inzino, Tronto. To these must be added the valleys of Lodrino with the river Biogno, Polaveno - Brione Gombiera with the river, with the stream of Lumezzane Gobbia and finally the villages of Bovezzo - Nave - Caino arranged along the Garza. In the upper-middle the riverbed is recessed into the bottom of the valley, while Pralboino from the confluence is limited by continuous embankments. From left the River Mella receives several tributaries: Naviglio Canneto Chiusello, Cavata, Tartarus, Moldinaro, Lojolo, the floodway Garza. The tributaries are: Delmona, Canal Waters Alte, Riglio and Navarolo. Of great importance is the impressive canal system that tracked from the Middle Ages, took away water to areas prone to waterlogging for distribution in arid, integrating with the network of "canals", "yellowtails" and "ships". A witness is the abundance that the biological quality of the abundant waters that flow from the soil
- f the valley, extending along the major line of springs, are also the ruins of the monumental
aqueduct from Roman times that supplied the city and the many fountains that 'embellished. Powered by snowfall and rainy, the river has a flow regimes consistent and relatively constant. The abundance of water has always been a determining factor in the economy of the valley, thanks to the intricate network of canals, made especially for the regulation of river water, irrigate crops and, in the past, to power hammers, forges and other activities proto -Industrial.