Which river has the most reservoirs? Reservoirs of Russia: list, description, economic importance

LOU average comprehensive school"Integration"

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Reservoirs on the Volga - history under water
Geography project
Completed by: Daria Golysheva, 9th grade

Head: academician Geography, Ph.D., Semenov V.A.

Moscow 2011

1. 
   Introduction…………………………….…………………………………3
2. 
   The history of the emergence of some reservoirs on the river. Volga………5
3. 
   Author's tour of the flooded cities on the river. Volga…………….10
4. 
   Conclusion……………………………………………………………...25
5. 
   List of information sources used………………..26

Introduction

Epigraph.

Two feelings are wonderfully close to us -

Love for the native ashes,

Love for fathers' coffins.

A.S. Pushkin.

The Great Volga River in the 30-70s. XX century turned into a chain of reservoirs. Ten dams on the Volga and Kama raised the waters, and they spilled over many kilometers, flooding not only forests and meadows. Thousands of villages and villages went under water, cities disappeared - Tver's Korcheva, Yaroslavl's Mologa, Samara's Stavropol-on-Volga. In total, during the construction of the Volga-Kama cascade of dams, 2,500 villages and hamlets, in which there were 126 thousand households, were flooded, flooded, destroyed and moved; 96 cities, industrial estates, settlements, villages with 30 thousand buildings. About 700 thousand people were resettled. Thousands of historical and cultural monuments have been lost. Studying great river European Russia from this side is very unusual and relevant, since this aspect has been poorly studied and described in the literature.

the main objective The work consists of studying historical and cultural monuments of the European part of the Russian Federation, which went under water during the creation of a cascade of reservoirs on the Volga and its main tributaries. To achieve this goal, the next round was decided tasks:

• 
  analyze available data sources on this issue;
• 
  study the history of the emergence of reservoirs on the river. Volga;
• 
  consider the scale of cultural and archaeological losses during the creation of a hydroelectric power station on the Volga;
• 
  describe a tour of the most interesting areas of flooded and semi-flooded settlements on the river. Volga;
• 
  summarize the results obtained.

Work structure includes consideration of the history and geography of the creation of reservoirs on the river. Volga, a description of the main rural and urban settlements that were flooded, as well as drawing up a tourist river route along the most interesting underwater places of the main water axis of European Russia. Development and description of the author's excursion is the practical part of the project.

An object research - settlements that were flooded during the creation of the Volga hydroelectric power stations.

Item studying the problem of loss of cultural heritage during the creation of a cascade of reservoirs on the Volga River, popularization of river travel along the largest river in European Russia.

Main hypothesis is that these days many once famous riverine settlements of the European part of the Russian Federation are undeservedly forgotten, and the state practically does not care about preserving the unique cultural layer of flooded settlements on the Volga.

Basic research methods– working with information resources, studying Internet sources, current literature, working with a map.

Approbation the work was carried out during the annual project week at the non-governmental educational institution secondary school “Integration” from February 21 to February 25, 2011.

The work is supplied with a power-point presentation containing a lot of digital photographs describing underwater and surface objects on the Volga.

The project involves materials from the author’s personal photo and video archive, collected during repeated trips to the Volga region over the past 4 years.

The Volga is an unusually beautiful river, but we don’t notice some underwater objects in the river fairway at all as we sail past. Today, thanks to the development of diving and science and technology in general, we have the opportunity to directly touch the most interesting underwater cultural heritage, which has survived to this day. This project is dedicated to the description of some interesting, from our point of view, flooded settlements on the Volga.

The history of the emergence of some reservoirs on the river. Volga
Ivankovskoye Reservoir, also known as Moscow Sea, is a reservoir in the upper reaches of the Volga River. The reservoir is held in place by a 9-kilometer dam up to 14 meters high. The Canal Army men filled it with wheelbarrows and manually reinforced the outside with stones.

In March 1937, the Ivankovskaya dam blocked the path of the Volga. A large reservoir called the Moscow Sea was formed. The water flooded the territory, which was occupied by 106 settlements, vast meadows and swamps, and large areas of cut forests. An area of ​​32,000 hectares was under water (see Fig. 1).

The area of ​​the water surface at its maximum level on the Ivankovsky reach is 141 km², on the Volzhsky 74 km², on Shoshinsky - 112. At the minimum water level, the surface area is respectively 46.35 and 9 km² (see Table 1).

In the Ivankovskoe reservoir, fluctuations in water level are greater than in new reservoirs in the Moscow region. In some years, the drop in water level reaches 7 meters, and the area of ​​the reservoir is then reduced by almost 4 times.

During the construction of the reservoir in 1936 it was destroyed county town Korcheva (see Fig. 1) and several dozen surrounding villages that fell into the flood zone.

Rice. 1. Korcheva. General form to the city (left). View of the Ivankovskoye Reservoir from the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway (right).

The Moscow Canal, which supplies fresh water to Moscow and watering the Moscow River. The Ivankovskaya hydroelectric power station operates on the reservoir's drainage.

The reservoir is used as a cooling reservoir for a large power plant - Konakovo State District Power Plant. The Ivankovskoye Reservoir is also used for cargo shipping to Moscow, Tver and along the Volga route. Regular passenger shipping now exists only from the Konakovo pier to the mouth of Sozi.

About three hundred islands formed in the waters of the reservoir, owing their names to the flooded villages, such as Ukhodovo, Klintsy, Shevnitsa, etc., most of which are uninhabited. Recreation centers of various research institutes have been created on the largest islands. On the banks of the reservoir there are many holiday homes, boarding houses, pioneer camps and the famous Zavidovo Nature Reserve, which houses one of the residences of the President of the Russian Federation, as well as the Zavidovo recreation complex.

Uglich Reservoir created in 1939 with the construction of the Uglich hydroelectric power station in Uglich on the Volga, located within Uglich district, Yaroslavl region and Kimrsky, Kalyazinsky and Kashinsky districts Tver region(see Fig. 2).

Area – 249 km², volume 1.24 km³, average depth 5 m, width up to 5 km. The level fluctuates within 7 m (see Table 1).

Rice. 2. Uglich waterworks [photo by the author].

The Uglich reservoir is a channel type, extends for 146 km, and carries out seasonal flow regulation.

The rivers flow into the Uglich Reservoir. Medveditsa, Kashinka, Nerl.

The reservoir is used for energy, shipping, and fishing. The cities of Kalyazin and Kimry are located on the banks.

Name	Location	Height N.U.M.	Naib. depth	Avg. depth	Square	Volume	Year of filling
Ivankovskoe	Tver and Moscow regions	124 m	19 m	4 m	327 km 2	1.12 km 3	1936
Uglichskoye	Tver and Yaroslavl regions	113 m	22 m	5 m	249 km 2	1.24 km 3	1939
Rybinskoe	Vologda, Tver, Yaroslavl regions	101 m	25-30 m	5.5 m	4580 km 2	25.5 km 3	1941
Gorkovskoe	Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo, Kostroma and Yaroslavl region	84 m	22 m	4 m	1590 km 2	8.71 km 3	1957

Table 1. Parameters of some reservoirs on the Volga River [created by the author based on materials 7, 15].

Rybinsk Reservoir (Rybinsk Sea) is a large artificial lake on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa.

This reservoir was formed by water retaining structures of the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex, located in the northern part of Rybinsk, blocking the channels of two rivers: the Volga and Sheksna. The hydroelectric complex includes the building of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 346 MW (originally 330 MW), built on the old bed of the Sheksna, earthen channel dams and their connecting dams, a concrete spillway dam and a two-line sluice built on the bed of the Volga. Significance of the reservoir: navigation, fishing.

The Rybinsk Reservoir was planned to be the largest artificial lake in the world by area (see Fig. 3, 4).

Construction of the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex began in 1935 near the village of Perebory above the confluence of the Sheksna and the Volga. In the fall of 1940, the Volga channel was blocked, and on April 13, 1941, filling of the reservoir began. To complete the work, 130,000 people had to be relocated to new places. - residents of 663 villages and the city of Mologa (see in the next chapter), three quarters of the territory of Vesyegonsk, the Leushinsky Monastery and the Yugskaya Hermitage were flooded. Filling continued until 1947. Including 3,645 km² of forests were flooded.

After filling the bowl Rybinsk Reservoir An eighth of the Yaroslavl land went under water and was withdrawn from economic use, including 80 thousand hectares of the best floodplain flood meadows in the Volga region, the grass of which was not inferior in quality to grass from alpine meadows, more than 70 thousand hectares of arable land cultivated for centuries, more than 30 thousand hectares of highly productive pastures, more than 250 thousand hectares of mushroom and berry forests.

Fig.3. The shore of the Rybinsk reservoir in winter and spring.

Rice. 4. Rybinsk Reservoir. View from space, 2002.
Ports on the reservoir: Cherepovets and Vesyegonsk. The reservoir is connected through the Sheksna River to the Volga-Baltic water system.

The Rybinsk Sea is a giant laboratory of the Institute of Biology inland waters RAS. In its northwestern part there is the Darwin Nature Reserve, which specializes in research into the influence of the reservoir on natural complexes southern taiga.

The main types of fish caught in the reservoir: bream, roach, bluefish, smelt, burbot, pike, pike perch, and perch.

Gorky Reservoir - reservoir on the Volga River.

Fig 5. Locks of the Gorky Reservoir (left). View of the Gorky Reservoir from the village of Porozovo (right) [photo by the author].

Formed by a dam Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric power station, filled in 1955-1957. Area – 1590 km², volume – 8.71 km³, average depth – 3.65 m, maximum depth – 22 m, length – 427 km, width – up to 16 km (see Table 1). Located in the Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod regions. In the upper section, water flooded only the floodplain and the first terrace. At the confluence of the Kostroma River, a vast lowland called the Kostroma expansion is flooded. Below the city of Yuryevets, the expanded lake-like part of the reservoir begins, in some places reaching a width of 14 km. Created in the interests of energy and shipping. Widely used for recreation and fishing. The following cities are located on the banks: Rybinsk, Tutaev, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Plyos, Navoloki, Kineshma, Zavolzhsk, Yuryevets, Puchezh, Chkalovsk, Zavolzhye, Gorodets.

Author's tour of the flooded cities on the river. Volga
We offer the reader a recreational and educational tour of some flooded cultural and historical sites on the river. Volga with a description of these places. We recommend starting the excursion from the Northern River Station of Moscow, on one of the many ships (“Alexander Radishchev”, “Felix Dzerzhinsky”, “Sergey Kuchkin”, etc.). The travel time is either May-June or August-September, which is due to the peculiarities of the water level at the reservoir sites and relatively low ticket prices. At the same time, we advise you to travel by boat with an inspection of surface and some underwater attractions only one way, and return by train (Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow). In this case, the cost of the tour per person will be about 30,000 rubles. with food, accommodation and transport. The duration of the trip is about 12 days.

Rice. 6. Scheme of the excursion “Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow” along the river. Volga with an inspection of historical monuments that have sunk under water.

From Moscow along the Canal. From Moscow we sail to the Ivankovsky waterworks (near Tver), where we visit the ancient settlement of Korcheva.

Settlement Korcheva.

On June 16, 1931, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Military-Industrial Complex (b) decided: “To resolve the problem of watering the Moscow River by connecting it with the upper reaches of the Volga River.” Construction of the Moscow-Volga canal began. In 1934-1937, at the junction of the canal with the river, the dam of the Ivankovskaya hydroelectric station, the first station of the Volga cascade, rose above the Volga bed and banks. Its construction was carried out to fill the Volga part of the canal with water, create navigable depths in the upper reaches of the Volga to Tver, and supply Moscow with Volga water and electricity.

The dam raised the waters of the Volga by 17 meters, to level 124 on the Baltic altitude scale. About 300 islands formed in its waters.

The rising waters flooded about 110 villages and villages with 20 temples. The city of Korcheva disappeared from the Volga bank (see Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Korcheva on old and modern maps.

The Slavic settlement of Korcheva, which probably arose in the 12th century, was first mentioned in historical sources in the first half of the 16th century. In 1781, during the provincial reform of Catherine II, it was given the status of a city, which became the center of a vast district of the Tver province.

IN early XIX centuries, the townspeople were engaged in shoemaking, traditional for these places, commercial gardening and gardening, and worked in neighboring Kuznetsovo (later Konakovo) at the famous porcelain factory of the merchant M.S. Kuznetsov.

In 1992-1993, the level of the Rybinsk reservoir dropped by more than 1.5 meters, allowing local historians to organize an expedition to the exposed part of the flooded city (paved streets, contours of foundations, forged gratings and gravestones in the cemetery were visible). During the expedition they collected interesting materials for the future Mologa Museum. In 1995, the Museum of the Mologsky Region was created in Rybinsk. In June 2003, on the initiative of the public organization “Communityhood of Mologans”, the Administration of the Yaroslavl region organized Round table“Problems of the Mologsky region and ways to solve them,” which put forward the idea of ​​​​creating National Park"Mologa" in memory of the flooded city.

Conclusion
The Upper Volga is the territory of formation of the Russian nation, statehood and culture. Places inhabited, decorated by many generations of people who have accumulated enormous cultural values ​​over centuries of creation. In the 1930s, these shores were swept by a wave of industrialization, the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal and the first three hydroelectric power stations of the Volga cascade began.

In Tver, Moscow, Yaroslavl and Volgograd regions along the banks of the Volga and its large tributaries, 6 cities, more than 2,500 villages, 6 monastery ensembles, about a hundred rural and urban churches, dozens of former noble estates, cemeteries that stored the ashes of ancestors, and hundreds of archaeological monuments went under water completely or partially. Well-groomed coastal fields and meadows, as well as pine “ribbon” forests, were flooded. About 700 thousand people moved from their habitable places. When leaving their native places, they could take with them household belongings, livestock, and transport some of the dismantled village houses, but not temples, estates, stone buildings, or land. All this exploded, collapsed, and flooded. Rivers and their waters, which have always been sources of life and beauty, spiritualizing the centuries-old existence of people living on the banks, have turned into rivers of exile and sorrow for many thousands.

In our project, we tried to draw attention to some Volga settlements that were lost by water, to study the historical and cultural monuments of the European part of the Russian Federation, flooded during the creation of a cascade of reservoirs on the Volga. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the available data sources on this issue, assessed the scale of cultural and archaeological losses during the creation of a hydroelectric power station on the Volga, and described a tour of the most interesting areas of flooded and semi-flooded settlements on the river. Volga. It seems to us that we have achieved our goal.

The main hypothesis that today many once famous riverine settlements of the European part of the Russian Federation are undeservedly forgotten, and the state practically does not care about preserving the unique cultural layer of flooded settlements on the Volga, is confirmed. With our work we would like to draw the attention of the public and the state to this problem.

List of information sources used

1. 
   Golovshchikov K.D. The city of Mologa and its historical past. Yaroslavl: Podosenov, 1889. 73 p.
2. 
   Erokhin V. Cities under water. M.: Grand Holding, 2010. 112 p.
3. 
   Korsakov G. Where did the Mologa country come from // Northern Territory, August 8, 2009. P. 2-3.
4. 
   Cruises on the Volga - http://www.mirkruizov.ru/
5. 
   Lukyanenko, V.I., Khabarov M.V., Lukyanenko, A.V. Culture is the fundamental basis of a humane attitude towards nature // Ecology and culture: from the past to the future. Yaroslavl: publishing house DOOSP, 2008. pp. 3–20.
6. 
   Markov A. A. Economic development Mologa and Mologa region from 1900 to 1941.// Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin, 1997, No. 4.
7. 
   International Free Encyclopedia – ru.wikipedia.org/wiki
8. 
   Mologa - life after death - http://ryb.ru/2009/03/14/3250
9. 
   Mologa – memory and pain – http://www.hot.ee/krasavin/mologa.html
10. 
    Mologa // Russian Atlantis. Guide to the flooded cities of the Upper Volga. Rybinsk: Format-print, 2005. pp. 27-28.
11. 
    Mologa: history and fate of the ancient Russian land./Compiled. N. M. Alekseev. Issue 4. Rybinsk: “Rybinsk Compound”, 1999. 128s.
12. 
    Piskunov L.P. About the past of the village of Vezhi near Kostroma. Relocation from the flood zone of the future reservoir (1952-1955)// Kostroma land. Local history almanac. Kostroma, 1999, issue. 4, p. 98-175.
13. 
    Russian Atlantis - http://www.samara.orthodoxy.ru/Smi/Npg/007_5.html
14. 
    Ryazantsev N. P., Salova Yu. G. History of the Yaroslavl region (1930-2005). Yaroslavl, Rybinsk: Used, Rybinsk Printing House, 2005. 277 p.
15. 
    Tamm E.I., ed. Encyclopedia of tourists. M.: BRE, 1993. 607 p.
16. 
    Treshnikov A.F., editor. Geographical encyclopedic Dictionary. M.: TSB, 1983. 528 p.

Over the last century, more than a hundred man-made seas and lakes - reservoirs - have appeared on the map of our country. We have already said that the amount of water in the river is not constant throughout the year. How to satisfy your water hunger? How can we make sure that cities do not lack water, ships deliver goods and people uninterruptedly, and power plants can operate without depending on changes in the water level in the river? Man found a way out: they began to build dams on rivers, collect water from spring full-flowing rivers in artificial reservoirs, and then use it as needed. Reservoirs have been created on many Russian rivers, and they all “work” for the benefit of people, helping to supply cities with water, saving them from floods, and making water roads more convenient.

Great Volga Cascade

Comparing geographic Maps the beginning and end of the 20th century, one cannot help but notice how much the main Russian river, the Volga, has changed. The work of engineers and builders turned it into a real cascade of artificial seas and reservoirs.

The first large reservoir on the Volga appeared in 1937 near the village of Ivankovo. The dam of the Ivankovskaya hydroelectric power station caused the Volga to spill over 327 square kilometers. The Ivankovskoye Reservoir is also called the Moscow Sea - for its exceptional size at that time. The dam helped raise the level of Volga water so that it could be more easily supplied to the capital. In total, more than a billion cubic meters of water have been collected in the Moscow Sea.

The next stage of the Great Volga cascade is the Uglich reservoir on the border of the Tver and Yaroslavl regions. The reservoir was created in 1939-1943. This is the smallest of the artificial seas on the Volga, but in terms of picturesqueness it is not inferior to any of them. On its banks, tourists are greeted by ancient towns: Uglich, Kimry, Kashin. You can also see the bell tower standing in the middle of the river - before the water level rose, it stood in the center of the town of Kalyazin. At the widest point, where the Volga tributaries Medveditsa and Nerl flow into the reservoir, the sea spreads three kilometers wide.

Almost simultaneously with Uglichsky, they began to build the next hydroelectric complex on the Volga - Rybinsky. Dams blocked not only the Volga, but also its tributary Sheksna just above their confluence. In 1941, the Rybinsk Sea appeared on the map - the largest reservoir on the Upper Volga, and at the time of filling - the largest artificial reservoir in the world. The Rybinsk Sea covers an area of ​​about 4,500 square kilometers (in the spring it becomes slightly larger and in the fall it decreases). Its length is 140 kilometers, and its width in some places reaches 70 kilometers. In addition to the Volga and Sheksna, the reservoir was also filled by the Mologa and dozens of small rivers for several years. Now about 28 billion cubic meters of water have been collected in the artificial sea. The reservoir made sections of rivers navigable that previously ships could not navigate. Rivermen say that there are real storms on the Rybinsk Sea. It is not for nothing that, in terms of navigation conditions, the reservoir was equated to the sea.

Samara (formerly Kuibyshev) is rightfully considered the largest of the Volga reservoirs. It is located where the Kama once flowed into the Volga, and today the Volzhskaya Hydroelectric Power Station dam stands. Reservoir length, for a long time remaining the largest in the world - 600 kilometers. It covers an area of ​​600 thousand hectares and holds 52 billion cubic meters of water. The distance between the shores of the artificial sea reaches in some places up to 40 kilometers. Its 3,000-kilometer coastline is home to over 20 cities and 800 smaller settlements. In winter, the thickness of the ice on the reservoir reaches a meter, and hummocks can be three meters high. In the spring, they turn into real river icebergs that threaten ship traffic. In other years, the road by sea has to be paved with the help of an icebreaker until April. The Samara Sea is the stormiest among the Volga reservoirs. In autumn there are real storms and gales: the wind blows with force eleven, and the waves grow up to three meters.

In the middle reaches of the Volga in the territory of Chuvashia and Nizhny Novgorod region The Cheboksary reservoir is located. This artificial reservoir is one of the youngest on the Volga. It was formed after the construction of the Cheboksary hydroelectric station in 1980-1982. The reservoir (area 2190 square kilometers) ranks seventh in size in Russia. The average width of the reservoir is 10 kilometers, and at its widest point its banks diverge for 25 kilometers. The artificial sea “stores” 13.8 cubic kilometers of water, which is used, in particular, for water supply needs.

The Volgograd hydroelectric power station dam, built in 1958-1961, is the last one on the Volga. She caused the Volgograd Sea to overflow at the very walls of the hero city. Here, in the steppe region, there is usually little rain, and the lack of water was previously felt very acutely. The Volgograd reservoir helped solve this problem. The artificial sea covers an area of ​​3,117 square kilometers and is the fourth largest reservoir in Russia. It contains 31.5 cubic kilometers of water, which came to cities and towns, watering the surrounding fields.

Bratsk Reservoir

Almost 170 cubic kilometers - that’s how much water there is in the Bratsk Reservoir. This is slightly less than the Nile dumps into the Mediterranean Sea in a year. In terms of water volume, the Bratsk reservoir has no equal in the world. The artificial sea arose after the construction of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station on the Angara. It took several years to fill it with water: work took place from 1961 to 1967. The Bratsk Reservoir is located on the beds of two rivers at once: it stretches for 550 kilometers along the Angara bed and another 370 along the Oka bed. In general, the artificial sea spreads over an area of ​​5,470 square kilometers, giving the first place in Russia to the Samara reservoir on the Volga. Bratsk Reservoir - source drinking water, fish breeding place. Marine vessels sail along it, and it is also used for timber rafting.

Reservoirs of the Moscow region

From the Northern River Station in Moscow, a whole chain of reservoirs and canals, built in the 1930s, leads south to the Volga. The first, in 1935, to appear on the map was the Istra Reservoir. It is also the first reservoir from the Moskvoretsky system. Now this system also includes the Ruzskoye, Ozerninskoye, Vazuzskoye and Yauzskoye reservoirs. The youngest of the reservoirs in

Moscow River - Mozhaisk Sea. It is not by chance that it is called the sea: it spills over an area of ​​31 square kilometers, and its depth reaches 22.6 meters. The Mozhaisk Sea appeared in 1960 after the construction of a hydroelectric complex. The Mozhaisk Reservoir, located in the upper reaches of the Moskva River, serves as a reliable source of drinking water for the capital, like other Moskvoretsky artificial reservoirs.

Another part of the Moscow region reservoirs is united by the Volga hydraulic system, which turns 70 years old in 2007, the Ivankovskoye reservoir, which fills the Moscow Canal with water, and the canal itself, which we have already talked about, is only part of this water cascade. This is followed by six more artificial reservoirs. In the place where the Khimka and Klyazma rivers once flowed, the Khimki and Klyazma reservoirs now lie. From the latter, you can get to the Pyalovskoye Reservoir via a connecting canal on a river boat. It is here that the picturesque Solnechnaya Polyana pier is located, where Muscovites come in the summer who want to swim and just relax in the picturesque bay. From the Pyalovskoye reservoir the path lies to the long but narrow Pestovskoye reservoir. Finally, the last connecting canal - and the last reservoir near Moscow from the Volga system - Ikshinskoye. All together, reservoirs on the Volga water collect 1.2 billion cubic meters of water per year. It is from this huge reservoir that water flows into the taps of Muscovites. The main task of all reservoirs near Moscow is to provide water to the capital. Muscovites use artificial seas for recreation, tourism and fishing.

Krasnoyarsk reservoir

The Krasnoyarsk reservoir is one of the ten largest artificial reservoirs in the world, and in Russia only the Samara reservoir on the Volga and the Bratsk reservoir on the Angara can compete with it. The dam of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station blocked the bed of one of the deepest rivers in Russia - the Yenisei. But even the Siberian giant took a long time to fill the reservoir completely. The construction of the reservoir took place from 1967 to 1970. The artificial sea spilled over an area of ​​two thousand square kilometers, containing 73 cubic kilometers of water - almost three Baltic Seas in volume! In terms of fullness, the Krasnoyarsk reservoir ranks second in Russia. Its main task is to regulate the water level in the Yenisei and ensure the uninterrupted movement of ships along it. The Krasnoyarsk reservoir is also actively used for fish farming and timber rafting.

Tsimlyansk Reservoir

The Tsimlyansk reservoir on the Don is one of the southernmost in Russia.

It got its name from the Cossack village of Tsimlyanskaya, located on its shore. The length of the steppe Tsimlyansk Sea stretches for almost 300 kilometers, and in some places its width reaches 38 kilometers. In some places the depth of the sea is 25 meters - this is almost the same as in the natural Sea of ​​​​Azov. From April to December, ships sail along it, but in the fall, river boaters are plagued by storms, from which they escape in specially constructed shelters (there are about ten of them at sea). The reservoir holds 12.6 billion cubic meters of water, which operates in hydroelectric turbines and feeds the Volga-Don Canal. The dam that blocked the Don protected the lower reaches of the river from spring floods. There were years when the Don increased in size several dozen times, flooding nearby fields for many kilometers and settlements. The water of the Tsimlyansk Sea watered the surrounding steppes, and now this region is rightfully considered the breadbasket of the South of Russia. The shores of the Tsimlyansk Sea are the center of Don viticulture. There are few places on Earth where grapes are grown in such “northern” latitudes. You can only remember the Rhine. Note that local wine may well compete with the famous Rhine wine.

Reservoirs are artificial objects, they are created during the construction of water-pressure structures (dams) installed in the valleys of large rivers in order to accumulate and store large volumes of water, they solve a number of problems such as:

• Development of hydropower;
• Water supply;
• Development of shipping;
• Economic irrigation;
• Flood control;
• Landscaping.

There are lake and river types. Many reservoirs were built on the territory of Russia (of which 41 are the largest, 64 are large, 210 are medium and 19о7 are small), most in the second half of the twentieth century, some of them are among the largest reservoirs in the world.

Large reservoirs of Russia

The largest reservoirs in Russia by area are Kuibyshevskoye (Samarskoye), Bratskoye, Rybinskoye, Volgogradskoye, Krasnoyarskoye (included in the top ten in the world), Tsimlyanskoye, Zeyaskoye, Vilyuiskoye, Cheboksary, Kama.

The Kuibyshevskoye (Samara Reservoir), its area of ​​6.5 thousand km 2, is the largest reservoir built on the Volga River in 1955-1957 and the third largest reservoir in the world. The lower part is also called the Zhigulevsky Sea, named after the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station built near the Zhigulevskaya Mountains near the city of Togliatti. The name of the reservoir was given by the city of Samara (Kuibyshev from 19135 to 1991), located downstream. The main purpose of the reservoir is to produce electricity, improve the quality of navigation, water supply, irrigation, fishing...

The Bratsk Reservoir (area 5.47 thousand km2) located in the Irkutsk region on the Angara River is the second largest reservoir in the world by volume of stored water (169 m3). It was built in 1961 -1967. (a dam was built in 1961, the reservoir was filled with water until 1967) as a result of the construction of the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station. Named after the city of Bratsk, the administrative center of the Irkutsk region, built on its banks. The reservoir is used to generate electricity, in shipping and commercial fishing, for timber rafting, water supply and irrigation...

The Rybinsk reservoir, with an area of ​​4.6 thousand km 2, is part of the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa in the north-west of the Yaroslavl region, partly in the Vologda and Tver regions. Construction began in 1935 on the site of an ancient glacial lake; it was planned that it would be the largest artificial lake in the world. The filling of the bowl lasted until 1947, for which almost 4 thousand km 2 of surrounding forests were flooded and the population of 663 towns and villages (133 thousand people) around the city of Mologa was resettled. The reservoir is used for the operation of the Volga cascade of hydroelectric power stations, fishing and shipping...

The construction of the Volgograd Reservoir lasted from 1958 to 1961; it arose during the construction of the Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Station dam on the Volga River (the territory of the Saratov and Volgograd regions). Its area is 3.1 thousand km 2; cities such as Saratov, Engels, Marks, Kamyshin, and Dubovka were built on its banks. Used for electricity generation, water transport, irrigation and water supply...

The Tsimlyansk reservoir appeared after the construction of a dam on the Don River, the city of Tsimlyansk in the Rostov and Volgograd regions (67% of the area) in 1952. Its filling lasted until 1953, construction began in 1948. Its area is 2.7 thousand km 2, it looks like a basin with three extensions for the mouths of such rivers as Chir, Aksai Kurmoyarsky and Tsimla, and in addition to them, 10 more rivers flow here. It is used to ensure transit navigation along the Volga-Don Canal, irrigation of arid adjacent lands, and the operation of the Tsimlyanskaya Hydroelectric Power Station. Also on the shore of the reservoir there is a Rostov NPP, there are port cities - Volgodonsk, Kalach-on-Don...

Construction of the Zeya reservoir with an area of ​​2.4 thousand km 2 lasted from 1974 to 1980. It was built on the Zeya River (Amur Region of the Russian Federation) as a result of the construction of a dam. In terms of the volume of water stored there (68.4 km 3), this is the third place after the Bratsk (169 km 3) and Krasnoyarsk (73.3 km 3) reservoirs. Commercial fishing is carried out here, the Zeya hydroelectric power station operates, and the reservoir also regulates the flow of the Amur River, which is subject to the influence of the Pacific monsoons...

The Vilyui Reservoir is located on the Vilyui River (a tributary of the Lena), it appeared as a result of the construction of the Vilyui Hydroelectric Power Station dam in 1961-1967. It is located in Yakutia on the border with the Irkutsk region, its area is 2.36 thousand km 2, it is used for the purpose of regulation annual flow the Vilyui River as a source of water supply, irrigation, shipping and fishing...

The Cheboksary reservoir on the Volga River (territory of the Mari El Republic, Chuvash Republic and Novgorod Region) is part of the Volga-Kama cascade of hydroelectric power stations. The area is 2.1 thousand km 2, it appeared as a result of the construction of the Cheboksary Hydroelectric Power Station dam, the construction of which was carried out from 1980 to 1982. Used for power generation, fishing, motor shipping...

The Kama Reservoir was formed on the Kama River in the Perm Territory of the Russian Federation during the construction of the Kama Hydroelectric Power Station, which came into operation in 1954 after the construction of the dam. Its area is 1.9 thousand km 2, and the Perm State District Power Plant is located on its banks. Also, on the so-called Kama Sea, the Kama Cup sailing regatta is held every year - the largest sports competition in the Perm region...

The construction of reservoirs is, in fact, the most important way for humanity to survive on our planet. The role of reservoirs at all times has been enormous: from storing water for domestic needs, irrigating farmland, fighting floods in ancient times to generating electricity today. Man built the first reservoirs more than 3 thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. Later, such structures began to be erected in India, Iran, and Syria.

We present a selection of the world's five largest hydroelectric reservoirs. Enjoy the views!

1. Victoria, b. Neil (Uganda, Owen Falls hydroelectric station)
   Total volume: 205 km 3
   Area: 76,000 km2 (comparable to the area of ​​a country such as the Republic of Panama)
   Length: 320 km
   Width: 275 km
   Maximum depth: 83 m
   Dam height: 31 m
   Year of construction start: 1947
   Year completed: 1954
2. Bratskoye, r. Angara (Russia, HPP "Bratskaya")
   Total volume: 169 km 3
   Area: 5470 km 2
   Length: 570 km (equal to the distance between the two European capitals Prague and Budapest)
   Width: 25 km
   Maximum depth: 150 m
   Dam height: 124.5
   Year of construction start: 1955
   

   

3. Kariba, b. Zambezi (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kariba hydroelectric station)
   Total volume: 160 km 3
   Area: 4450 km 2
   Length: 220 km
   Width: 40 km
   Maximum depth: 78 m
   Dam height: 126 (this is the height of four nine-story buildings)
   Year of construction start: 1957
   Year completed: 1963

   

4. Nasser, b. Nile (Egypt, Sudan, Aswan hydroelectric complex)
   Total volume: 157 km 3
   Area: 5120 km 2
   Length: 550 km
   Width: 35 km
   Maximum depth: 130 m (this is ten times the depth of the Sea of ​​Azov at its lowest point)
   Dam height: 111 m
   Year of construction start: 1960
   Year completed: 1970

   

5. Volta, b. Volta (Ghana, Akosombo hydroelectric station)
   Total volume: 147 km 3
   Area: 8500 km2 (occupies almost 4% of Ghana's area)
   Length: 400 km
   Maximum depth: 80 m
   Dam height: 111 m
   Year of construction start: 1961
   Year completed: 1967

   

It is interesting that the next largest five reservoirs are located in Russia: Krasnoyarsk, Zeyskoye, Ust-Ilimskoye, Kuibyshevskoye, Baikalskoye (Irkutskoye).

History of reservoir construction

Reservoirs are artificial reservoirs created for the accumulation and subsequent use of water and flow regulation. The first reservoirs appeared on Earth more than 4 thousand years ago. They were built for irrigation and flood control in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. Somewhat later, the construction of reservoirs began in India, Syria, Iran and Egypt. For example, the Carnalbo Dam was built on the river. Albarregas in Spain in the 2nd century. BC, and the resulting reservoir with a volume of 10 million m 3 still exists. And the oldest reservoir on Earth is the Sadd el-Kafara dam, created in ancient Egypt in 2950-2750 BC. There is evidence of the construction of reservoirs by the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas in pre-Columbian America. Unfortunately, most of them were destroyed by Spanish conquistadors in the 15th-16th centuries.

In the III-IX and especially in the XII-XIII centuries. In Europe, the construction of mill dams with small reservoir ponds became widespread. In the 18th-19th centuries, during the era of the industrial revolution, small reservoirs were created at mining enterprises, metalworking and sawmills, spinning and weaving factories, and also for water supply.

Despite the thousand-year history of construction, reservoirs with with good reason can be called a product of our century. The total volume of all reservoirs on the planet that existed by the end of the 19th century was only 15 km 3 . Now there is only one Bratsk reservoir on the river. The Angare has a volume of 169 km 3, which is more than 11 times the volume of all the planet’s reservoirs that existed at the turn of two centuries.

According to A. B. Avakyan, the creation of reservoirs has become widespread and widespread over the past 50 years, when their number on the globe has increased fourfold, and the total volume has increased tenfold, including in countries and - 35 times - 60 times and Asia – 90 times. During this period, all the largest reservoirs on our planet were built.

Location and dimensions of reservoirs.

Now more than 60 thousand reservoirs are in operation in the world and several hundred new ones appear every year. Their total volume exceeds 6.6 thousand km 3, and the area of ​​the water surface is more than 400 thousand km 2, and taking into account dammed lakes - 600 thousand. km 2. For comparison, this is the area of ​​fifteen Azov Seas.

Every year from 300 to 500 new reservoirs come into operation. Many large rivers of the planet - the Volga, Angara, Missouri, Colorado, Parana, Tennessee, etc. - have been turned into cascades of reservoirs. And according to scientists’ forecasts, in 30-50 years, 2/3 of the Earth’s river systems will be regulated by reservoirs.

Some lakes (Baikal, Onega, Victoria, Winnipeg, Ontario, etc.) have been turned into reservoirs by raising the level with the help of dams built near the sources of the rivers flowing from them.

Reservoirs are available on all continents (except Antarctica), in all countries, in all geographical zones (except the Arctic), in all altitude zones, right down to the foot of mountain glaciers. However, due to the diversity of natural and socio-economic conditions, they are located throughout the territory globe and within most states it is very uneven.

There are more than 3 thousand mostly small reservoirs in Europe. Only in the European part of Russia, Finland, Norway, Spain, and Greece there are reservoirs with a volume of more than several cubic kilometers. In the territory North America(Canada, USA, Mexico) there are over 3,000 reservoirs, and in the territory South America there are no more than 500 of them. There are about 3,700 reservoirs in Asia, Africa and Australia, the largest of which are located in Russia, Egypt, Ghana, China, Rhodesia, Iraq, etc.

Reservoirs have significantly transformed the landscape of many river basins. Their creation changed not only the appearance of the rivers themselves, but also the nature of the surrounding territories on a total area of ​​1.5 million km 2, which is equal to the total area of ​​such European countries as France, Spain, Great Britain and Germany.

Although reservoirs are created and operated by man, they develop according to the laws of nature, influence it, are inextricably linked with it and are now its integral part.

The main purpose of creating reservoirs is to regulate river flow. They are built mainly in the interests of energy, irrigation, water transport, water supply, timber rafting, fisheries, for recreational purposes and for flood control purposes. To do this, reservoirs accumulate runoff during some periods of the year and release the accumulated water during others.

Among the indicators characterizing the size of reservoirs, the most important are the volume and area of ​​the water surface, since it is these parameters that largely determine the impact on environment. The area, volume and depth of reservoirs vary widely. The area varies from 1-2 km 2 to 5,740 km 2 (Bratskoye) and 8,480 km 2 (Volta), volume - from 1 million m 3 to 169.3 billion m 3 (Bratskoye) and 204.8 billion. m 3 (Victoria), depth - from a few to 300 m or more: Vayont (262 m) in Italy, Grand Dixance (284 m), Switzerland, Nurek (300 m) and Rogun (306 m) in Tajikistan.

Based on the size of the reservoir area, they are classified into the largest (with a water surface area of ​​more than 5000 km2), very large (5000-500 km2), large (5000-100 km2), medium (100-20 km2), small (20- 2 km 2) and small ones with a water surface area of ​​less than 2 km 2. Very small reservoirs created on small parts of the hydrographic network are called ponds, and in excavations - diggings.

The largest reservoirs (excluding reservoir lakes) are the giant reservoirs: Volta, Bratsk Kariba, and Nasser. Very large reservoirs make up about 1% of all reservoirs, large - 5%, medium - 15%, small - 35% and small - 44%. As you can see, the bulk of artificial reservoirs are represented by small and small reservoirs.

The deepest reservoirs, in addition to those mentioned above, include Baruca (260 m) in Costa Rica, Mika (235 m) in Canada, Sayanskoye (220 m) in Russia. The largest volume of water has such giants as the Bratsk reservoir (169 km 3), Kariba (160 km 3), Nasser (157 km 3), Volta (148 km 3), Guri (135 km 3), Krasnoyarsk and Wadi Tartar ( 73 km3 each). The most extensive reservoirs include the following reservoirs: Kuibyshevskoye (650 km), Bratskoye (565 km), Volgogradskoye (540 km) and Nasser (500 km).

The largest reservoirs in the world.

Reservoir (river, lake)	A country	Total volume, km 3	Useful volume, km 3	Total area, km 2	Incl. area of ​​the dammed lake, km 2	Head, m	Year of filling
Victoria [Owen Falls] (Victoria Neil, Lake Victoria)	Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya	205	205	76000	68000	31	1954
Bratskoye (Angara)	Russia	169	48,2	5470	–	106	1967
Kariba (Zambezi)	Zambia, Zimbabwe	160	46,0	4450	–	100	1963
Nasser [Sadd el-Aali] (Nile)	Egypt, Sudan	157	74,0	5120	–td>	95	1970
Volta (Volta)	Ghana	148	90,0	8480	–	70	1967
Krasnoyarsk (Yenisei)	Russia	73,3	30,4	2000	–	100	1967
Zeyskoye (Zey)	Russia	68,4	32,1	2420	–	98	1974
Ust-Ilimskoye (Angara)	Russia	59,4	2,8	1870	–	88	1977
Kuibyshevskoe (Volga)	Russia	58,0	34,6	5900	–	29	1957
Baikal [Irkutsk] (Angara, Lake Baikal)	Russia	47,6	46,6	32970	31500	30	1959
Vilyuiskoye (Vilyui)	Russia	35,9	17,8	2170	–	68	1972
Volgogradskoe (Volga)	Russia	31,4	8,2	3115	–	27	1960
Ontario [Iroquay] (St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario)	Canada, USA	29,9	29,9	19560	19500	23	1958
Sayano-Shushenskoye (Yenisei)	Russia	29,1	14,7	633	–	220	1987
Rybinskoe (Volga)	Russia	25,4	16,7	4550	–	18	1949
Kolymskoye (Kolyma)	Russia	14,6	6,5	440	–	117	1983
Onega [Verkhnesvirskoe] (Svir, Lake Onega)	Russia	13,8	13,1	9930	9700	17	1952
Saratovskoe (Volga)	Russia	12,4	1,8	1830	–	15	1968
Kaiskoe (Kama)	Russia	12,2	9,2	1915	–	21	1956

Data according to A. B. Avakyan, V. R. Saltankin, V. A. Sharapov, V. N. Mikhailov, A. D. Dobrovolsky, S. A. Dobrolyubov.

The areas of reservoirs and other morphometric elements change greatly when the water level is filled and released. Thus, the areas of the Kuibyshev, Rybinsk and Tsimlyansk reservoirs are reduced by 1.5-2 times with a maximum decrease in levels compared to the highest design level, which, naturally, is reflected in changes in their hydrological regime, transformation of the banks and bottom of the basin.

The amplitude of water level fluctuations in different reservoirs also varies widely - from several tens of centimeters for lowland reservoirs to many tens and more than 100 m for mountain reservoirs.

The shape of reservoir water areas is extremely diverse. Reservoirs predominate elongated shape with a more or less winding coastline, but there are also many reservoirs of simple (round, oval) and very complex (root-shaped, forked, multi-bladed, etc.) shapes.

In the CIS countries there are currently over 4 thousand reservoirs with a capacity of more than 1 million m3. Their total total volume exceeds 1,200 km 3, the mirror area is 87 thousand km 2 (i.e. more territory Austria), and taking into account dammed lakes - 145 thousand km 2. Russian reservoirs account for about 15% of their total number in the world and 20% of their area. The length of the coastline of the reservoirs exceeds the length of the coastline of the seas washing our country. 20 million people live on the banks of reservoirs.

The first small reservoirs that still exist today were built at the end of the 17th century - beginning of the 18th century in Karelia, Central region and in the Urals. From the second half of the 19th century V. reservoirs began to be built in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Turkmenistan, etc. The first reservoir on the Volga, the Verkhnevolzhsky Beishlot, was created more than 150 years ago, in 1843. Then a dam was built in the upper reaches of the Volga, the sole purpose of which was to retain spring waters and then release them in the summer them to increase navigable depths on the Upper Volga to Rybinsk.

The most intensive creation and filling of reservoirs occurred in post-war years: in 1955-1960, in 1965-1970 and in 1975-1980. In the first period, the total volume of reservoirs increased by 218 km 3 , in the second – by 338 km 3 and in the third – by 178 km 3 (Avakyan).

Most large and medium-sized reservoirs have a complex purpose, i.e. satisfy the needs of several industries simultaneously National economy(energy, irrigation, water transport, water supply). Small reservoirs are often created to solve one specific problem - either for energy purposes, or for irrigation purposes, etc.

Reservoirs are distributed unevenly throughout Russia. Great specific gravity total volume (45%) and water surface area (more than 35%) of reservoirs Eastern Siberia and the Far East). Large volumes of water are stored in mountain reservoirs Central Asia(with their relatively small area), in the foothills of Kazakhstan (on the Irtysh and Ili rivers), in the reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade.

In the central and northern regions of the European part of Russia, reservoirs are created, as a rule, for energy and water transport; in the North Caucasus - to solve energy and irrigation problems; in the southern arid regions - primarily for irrigation; in Siberia - for energy and water transport, and in the Far East - also for flood control.

In general, reservoirs are created to achieve certain economic goals and develop according to natural laws.