The Sheknsna Reservoir or the Sheksninskoe Reservoir is a water reservoir on Sheksna River

Sheksna River

The Sheksna is a river in Belozersky, Kirillovsky, Sheksninsky, and Cherepovetsky Districts of Vologda Oblast in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Volga River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 and Lake Beloye, in Belozersky

Belozersky District

Belozersky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. The name literally means "pertaining to white lakes".*Belozersky District, Kurgan Oblast, an administrative and municipal district of Kurgan Oblast...

, Vashkinsky

Vashkinsky District

Vashkinsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-six in Vologda Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Vashkinsky Municipal District. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and borders with Vytegorsky District in the north, Kirillovsky District in the east,...

, Kirillovsky

Kirillovsky District

Kirillovsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-six in Vologda Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Kirillovsky Municipal District...

, and Sheksninsky District

Sheksninsky District

Sheksninsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-six in Vologda Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Sheksninsky Municipal District...

s of Vologda Oblast

Vologda Oblast

Vologda Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is Vologda. The largest city is Cherepovets.Vologda Oblast is rich in historic monuments, such as the magnificent Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Convent , medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, baroque...

 in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The reservoir is formed by the dam of the Sheksna Hydropower Plant, located in the urban-type settlement of Sheksna.

The Sheksna Reservoir is a part of the Volga-Baltic Waterway

Volga-Baltic Waterway

The Volga–Baltic Waterway, formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System , is a series of canals and rivers in Russia which link the Volga River with the Baltic Sea...

 and is used for both cruise and cargo traffic. Both the Northern Dvina Canal

Northern Dvina Canal

The Northern Dvina Canal is a 64 km long canal in Vologda Oblast in Russia. It connects the Volga-Baltic Waterway to the Northern Dvina River through its tributary, the Sukhona River...

, which connects the basins of the Volga and the Northern Dvina via Lake Kubenskoye

Lake Kubenskoye

Kubenskoe Lake is a large and shallow lake in Vologda Oblast of Russia, situated at the height of 109 metres above mean sea level, stretching for 60 km from north-west to south-east....

, and the Belozersky Canal

Belozersky Canal

The Belozersky Bypass Canal is a canal around the south-western part of Lake Beloye in Vologda Oblast in north-western Russia. It connects Kovzha River to Sheksna River, and is part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway....

, bypassing Lake Beloye, connect to the Sheksna Reservoir.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the Mariinsky Canal system was open to connect the river basins of the Volga

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

 and the Neva

Neva River

The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...

 via Lake Onega

Lake Onega

Lake Onega is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga...

. The system was heavily used, however, in the 20th century it could not support the increased cargo traffic anymore, and it was decided to reconstruct the old system, building Volga-Baltic Waterway. The Sheksna dam was a part of this project. The construction took place in 1963-1964. The length of the reservoir dam is 1100 metres (3,608.9 ft), the dam complex includes 2 locks. The lower pound of the dam is the Rybinsk Reservoir

Rybinsk Reservoir

Rybinsk Reservoir , informally called the Rybinsk Sea, is a water reservoir on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam, located on the territories of Tver, Vologda, and Yaroslavl Oblasts. At the time of its construction, it was the largest...

.

The only two towns on the shores of the reservoir are Belozersk

Belozersk

Belozersk , known as Beloozero until 1777 , is a town and the administrative center of Belozersky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia, situated on the southern bank of Lake Beloye, from which it takes the name...

 and Kirillov. The reservoir is built as a relatively narrow river upstream of Sheksna, and opens up further upstream.