The Vlasina (Serbian Cyrillic: Власина) is a river in southeastern Serbia, a 70 km-long outflow of the Vlasina Lake and a right tributary to the South Morava, which also gives its name to the surrounding Vlasina region. Geography The Vlasina flows out from the Vlasina Lake at an altitude of 1,213 m. Lake used to be a large, muddy peat bog, but in 1947-1951 the Vlasina was dammed by the long, earth dam and the bog was turned into an artificial lake. The river flows to the north, between the mountains of Čemernik on the west, and Gramada on the east. It flows through Crna Trava, regional and municipal center, and the villages of Brod, Krstićevo and Jabukovik, where it reaches the Lužnica mountain and receives the Gradska from the right. The river bends to the west, along the southern slopes of Lužnica, and receives from the right the Tegošnica (at Donje Gare village) and the Lužnica (at Svođe). As the Vlasina continues on the southernmost slopes of the Suva Planina and Babička Gora mountains, it reaches the town of Vlasotince and western parts of the low Leskovac Field, part of the composite valley of the Južna Morava. After the villages of Batulovce and Stajkovce, the Vlasina empties into the South Morava, east of the Leskovac's eastern suburb of Mrštane. The river's valley, from the Vlasina Lake to the town of Vlasotince is narrow, defile-like with steep sides prone to heavy erosion. Downstream from Vlasotince, the valley expands and the rivers starts to meander. Right before its confluence with the South Morava, the Vlasina branches into several arms, stretching for . During the high water levels, this entire confluence area is flooded. The longest tributaries are Tegošnica (), Lužnica (), Pusta Reka (), Gradska Reka (), Bistrica () and Rastovnica (). For the purpose of hydroelectricity production, some of the Vlasina's tributaries were rerouted through canals into the Vlasina Lake, thus making them part of the Vrla watershed. Those tributaries are Mlađenica, Čemernica and all the right tributaries to the Strvna river. This way, an artificial bifurcation and stream capture were formed. The Vlasina drains an area of . It belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin and it is not navigable. Characteristics During the summer, large amounts of water from the river are used for irrigation of the surrounding arable land. Water is especially used in the lower course,