Tsimlyansk Reservoir
Encyclopedia
Tsimlyansk Reservoir or Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Don River
in the territories of Rostov
and Volgograd Oblast
s at 47°50′N 42°50′E. Completed in 1952, the reservoir is one of the largest in Russia
, providing power and irrigation
to the Rostov
and Volgograd
regions. Crops grown around the lake include wheat
, rice
, cotton
, maize
, alfalfa
, fruit
, grapes, and vegetable
s.
The reservoir, together with the Volga-Don Canal
and the lower course of the Don, provides an important waterway between the Volga River basin and the Sea of Azov
. The Tsimlyansk Dam also provides flood control for the lower Don River basin.
Completion of the lake resulted in strong local industrial growth. In particular, the city of Volgodonsk
owes its existence to the Tsimlyansk Dam project.
Under the waters lies the ancient Khazar fortress town of Sarkel
.
, the reservoir forms part of a waterway for the shipping of raw materials from the upper Don and Volga
-Caspian
basins to the lower Don River - Sea of Azov
basin and vice versa. According to the federal agency responsible for the maintenance of this waterway (Федеральное Государственное Учреждение "Волго-Донское ГБУВПиС"), guaranteed depth of the main navigable waterway through the reservoir in the navigation season of 2007 was to be maintained at no less than 3.6 meters, with the width of the navigable waterway no less than 50 meters. It was to be available for navigation for 233 days, from April 5 to November 23, 2007.
To descend from the reservoir to the lower Don, ships have to pass two ship locks: the lock in the Tsimlyansky Dam itself (47°33′05"N 42°08′06"E), known as Lock No. 14, followed by Lock No. 15 (47°33′17"N 42°06′42"E) a couple of kilometers farther west. The locks are assigned these numbers because they are considered part of the same sequence of locks as the 13 locks on the Volga-Don Canal itself. During the navigation seasons of 2008 through 2010, the two locks are scheduled to operate from April 2 through December 8.
Don River (Russia)
The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....
in the territories of Rostov
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of and a population of making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia...
and Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Volgograd. Population: -Geography:*Area: 113,900 km²;*Borders length: 2221,9 km²....
s at 47°50′N 42°50′E. Completed in 1952, the reservoir is one of the largest 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...
, providing power and irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
to the Rostov
Rostov
Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...
and Volgograd
Volgograd
Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...
regions. Crops grown around the lake include wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, alfalfa
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, grapes, and vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s.
The reservoir, together with the Volga-Don Canal
Volga-Don Canal
Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal is a canal which connects the Volga River and the Don River at their closest points. The length of the waterway is 101 km ....
and the lower course of the Don, provides an important waterway between the Volga River basin and the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
. The Tsimlyansk Dam also provides flood control for the lower Don River basin.
Completion of the lake resulted in strong local industrial growth. In particular, the city of Volgodonsk
Volgodonsk
Volgodonsk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located in the eastern part of the oblast on the west bank of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir. Population: 28,000 .-History:...
owes its existence to the Tsimlyansk Dam project.
Under the waters lies the ancient Khazar fortress town of Sarkel
Sarkel
Sarkel was a large limestone-and-brick fortress built by the Khazars with Byzantine assistance in the 830s. It was named white-house because of the white limestone bricks they have used to build Sarkel...
.
Navigation
Along with the Volga-Don CanalVolga-Don Canal
Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal is a canal which connects the Volga River and the Don River at their closest points. The length of the waterway is 101 km ....
, the reservoir forms part of a waterway for the shipping of raw materials from the upper Don and 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...
-Caspian
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
basins to the lower Don River - Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
basin and vice versa. According to the federal agency responsible for the maintenance of this waterway (Федеральное Государственное Учреждение "Волго-Донское ГБУВПиС"), guaranteed depth of the main navigable waterway through the reservoir in the navigation season of 2007 was to be maintained at no less than 3.6 meters, with the width of the navigable waterway no less than 50 meters. It was to be available for navigation for 233 days, from April 5 to November 23, 2007.
To descend from the reservoir to the lower Don, ships have to pass two ship locks: the lock in the Tsimlyansky Dam itself (47°33′05"N 42°08′06"E), known as Lock No. 14, followed by Lock No. 15 (47°33′17"N 42°06′42"E) a couple of kilometers farther west. The locks are assigned these numbers because they are considered part of the same sequence of locks as the 13 locks on the Volga-Don Canal itself. During the navigation seasons of 2008 through 2010, the two locks are scheduled to operate from April 2 through December 8.