Where does the Don flow and where does the river begin?

A little history of the river

23 million years ago, in the place where the Don now flows, a huge ancient sea stretched, later called the South Russian Sea. About 17 million years ago, sea waters began to recede, which led to the formation of a paleo-bed of an ancient river. It extended from the Moscow region to Kalmyk Yashkul. The width of the channel is 50 km, and in the delta 60 km. The depth of the river valley was 120 m, and at the mouth an astonishing 300 m.

The sea came and went. The Paleo Don disappeared in its waters and then reappeared. The formed channel (6 million years ago) is called the Ergen River by historians. About 3-1.5 million years ago the river changed its course. This is the period of assigning a new name - Andreya River. Ancient deposits can still be seen near the Tsimlyansk Reservoir.

After this, the era of glaciations began. In the time frame of 600 thousand years - 10 thousand years ago, they came one after another. In particular, it was glaciers that formed the modern riverbed of the Don.

The mouth of the river depended on the Azov-Black Sea basin and moved depending on its level. Sometimes the river flowed into the Manychsky Strait. And when the glacier reigned and the Sea of Azov ceased to exist, the Don flowed into the Black Sea. For example, 14 thousand years ago, Azov dried up completely. The Don ran along its bottom and merged with the Black Sea 50 km from the Kerch Strait.

River Don

The Don River is the largest river in the Voronezh region. In the area of the city of Liski, its average annual resources are about 8 cubic kilometers. The width of the river at low water is from 40-50 m to 70-80 m. The depth on the reaches is 3-5 m.

The largest right tributary of the Don is the Seversky Donets (it does not flow through the Voronezh region). On its right bank is the city of Chuguev (Ukraine). The nature in Chuguev is similar to Voronezh.

The Don has a drainage area of 422,000 km2. According to this indicator in Europe, it is second only to the Volga, Dnieper and Danube. The name of the river is of Aryan origin and means "river". In the Voronezh region, the length of the river is 530 km. Within the region, the following rivers flow into it: Voronezh, Tikhaya Sosna, Ikorets, Bityug, Chernaya Kalitva and others. The water regime of the Don is typical for steppe rivers. Snow nutrition predominates (up to 70%). Soil and rain are represented less. Spring floods are high, and summer and autumn floods are insignificant.

In spring, the Don floods very widely. Freeze-up occurs from the beginning of December, sometimes delayed until January. The river within the region usually opens up in the third ten days of March. From the mouth of the Tikhaya Sosna River, the Don Valley widens noticeably.

The section of the Don from the village of Korotoyak to the village of Divnogorye is recognized as a hydrological monument. In the Voronezh region, the river has a general direction to the southeast. Extensive chalk outcrops throughout almost the entire region run along the right bank of the river. Chalk cliffs often come close to the riverbed. The Don becomes navigable from the mouth of the Voronezh River. And the largest port in the Voronezh region is the city of Liski. On the right bank of the Don there are amazing cave temples. Of these, the most famous are near the village of Kostomarovo. This is the Holy Spassky Convent. The Belogorsky Ascension Monastery is also famous. In the Bogucharsky district in the village of Belaya Gorka there are underground mineral springs. The water from these springs has remarkable healing properties. The fauna and flora of the Don are extremely interesting and rich. The ichthyofauna includes an impressive list of species, the aquatic vegetation also has an interesting composition, but the inhabitants of the river are under pressure from human economic activity.

Modern name

The choice, as always, is wide. The hydronym DON came to us from the following languages:

Avestan – dānu (river);
Arabian – dānu;
Sarmatian – dānu;
ancient Indian – dānu (dew, drops);
Ossetian – dān (river).

Later, the Ossetian DAN was transformed into DON. On the territory of Ossetia (Alania) many names of rivers with the morpheme “don” have been preserved: ArDON, KarmaDON, FiagDON. The Alanian language is a descendant of Scythian. It turns out that the names of the rivers were given mainly by the Scythians-Sarmatians.

Donets - rivers with a name derived from the Don are located in its basin, at least most of them. You can find the Donets on the map:

Seversky;
Dead;
Dry;
Lime;
Sozhnoy.

The ancient Greeks, led by Herodotus, gave the river the names Τάναϊς (Tanais) and Girgis. The Normans called him Vanaquisl in their sagas.

Eregina Yulia

I love the sea and taiga. I recently decided to take up journalism. I publish educational articles about natural objects and animals.

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A very interesting version was found on the Internet. We return the Ossetian name DON to its original position DAN. We see that DAN is almost TAN with a difference of one letter. Tan is a fermented milk drink among Ossetians. The Ossetians themselves are descendants of the Scythians. Scythians - from the word “soured” and they also gave the name to the river (in honor of the thane, apparently). I don’t know about you, but for the author everything came together. At the end of the article, he solemnly summed up that there was no need to look for all sorts of Iranian, Arabian and other roots - everything fits together perfectly.

Source

The mother of Don is considered to be R. Urvanka in Novomoskovsk (Tula region). This place is located on the territory of the Children's Park. There are many springs, wells, ponds and even one small swamp. Urvanka originates from the spring, then it becomes the Don.

At first, the birth of Father Don was given to Ivan the Lake. This was indeed the case until the era of Peter the Great broke out with its innovations in the form of potatoes, a window to Europe and other wonders. The Tsar-Breadwinner decided to dig a canal to connect the Volga with the Don for navigation. No sooner said than done, the builders set about their good work with frenzy. We decided to add water to Ivan Lake first. To do this, they drilled the bottom, but instead of the water flowing in, it began to decline. The lake level dropped and the Don's feeding stopped. What happened next is anyone's guess. The Tsar slammed his fist on the table and, in the voice of Chernomyrdin, barked “We wanted the best, but it turned out, as always, boobies” and ordered the first tributary after Ivan Lake to be considered the beginning of the Don. One way or another, the Urvanka River began to be called the source.

The source in Novomoskovsk
For tourists, the source is decorated in the city center in the form of a large stone with a carved inscription - “Source of the Don” and a stream of water flowing from under it. True, to maintain the legend, it would be good to clean off the rusty deposits from tap water from the stones.

Tributaries

The Don has more than 13 thousand watercourses. The most significant (over 1,700 km long) include:

Hopper;
Round grain;
Seversky Donets;
Wet Tabola;
Ursa;
Kazanovka;
Big Sukromka;
Lutorich;
Rykhotka;
Kochurovka;
Not straight;
Bobrik;
Rust;
Rozhnya;
Muravlyanka;
Vyazovnya;
Mshara.

Some of them, at this length, remain untitled. The river has several branches:

Old Don;
Perevoloka;
Big and Wet Kalancha;
Big and Middle Kuterma;
Dead Donets;

Add to this the presence of more than 8 thousand lakes in the basin. The result is a well-developed hydrographic grid.

Reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations

There is only one hydroelectric power station on the river - Tsimlyanskaya. But the number of small reservoirs and ponds (up to 10 million m3) in the basin reaches 10 thousand. Over 10 million m3 there are another 40. The water flow is completely regulated.

The Tsimlyansk hydroelectric power station, or rather its dam, raised the Don waters by 26 m. It is the largest structure made of sand. It was built using a new technology of sand washing and laying reinforced concrete slabs on top. Height 32 m, length 500 m.

Tsimlyanskaya HPP

The reservoir flooded vast Cossack territories. Farms, gardens, cemeteries, and temples fell into oblivion. In clear weather, you can see the church bell tower underwater.

4 more hydroelectric complexes were built on the Don: Kochetovsky, Nikolaevsky, Bagaevsky, Konstantinovsky with the necessary locks and dams.

Economic use

Shipping flights are regularly carried out along the Don. The length of the shipping line is 1590 kilometers (to the city of Liski).

Near Kalach-on-Don, the river is as close as possible to the Volga - 70 kilometers. Because of this, until the middle of the 20th century there was a portage here, but in 1952 the VolgoDon canal began to play its role.

Near the village of Tsimlyanskaya, the water rises 27 meters, so a reservoir of the same name was built here. Its area is more than 2600 square kilometers. There is also a hydroelectric power station installed here. Water from the reservoir is used to irrigate various agricultural facilities in the Volgograd and Rostov regions.

Channels

The most famous was the Volga-Don, a canal that connected two great rivers. Large-scale construction of the Soviet era. They wanted to complete the project in 5 years, but they completed it in 4. The most complex hydraulic structure is 101 km long and 80 m wide. The channel consists of:

River basin

The drainage area of the Don basin is 400 thousand square meters. km. This is the fourth place after the Dnieper, Danube and Volga in terms of spillway. It is characterized by high floods in spring and low water conditions the rest of the time. The water level drops gradually throughout the year, after a sharp rise in the spring.

Ice cover closes the river in late November - early December, depending on the ambient temperature. It lasts from 140 to 90 days. The ice breaks up, starting from the lower reaches in early March, and rapidly moves to the upper reaches, where the flood follows.

Near the Don River, the source is considered to be the Urvanka river (stream). It is located in the Tula region near Novomoskovsk. This is where the Don water begins to flow. The total list of tributaries of the Don water artery exceeds 5 thousand. A short list of the largest of them:

Khoper.
Seversky Donets.
Pine.
Ursa.
Voronezh.
Black Kalitva.
Ilovlya.
Sword.

The entire Don basin includes the Voronezh, Lipetsk and Rostov regions. Another 16 regions are partially present, 3 of which are Ukrainian. The number of lakes in the Don region is approaching 10 thousand objects.

Near the city of Kalach-on-Don, after the construction of a hydroelectric power station in 1952, the Tsimlyanskoe reservoir was formed. Its area is 2600 km² and its total capacity is 21 cubic meters. km. The navigable Volga-Don Canal was also built here. Its operating mode is based on the difference in heights of the Volga and Don relative to sea level.

The Don delta stretches 6 km below Rostov-on-Don. It consists of about 40 sleeves. The main ones:

Big Turmoil.
Kalancha.
Revolving.
Egurcha.
Dead Donets.
Old Don.

The total area of the Don delta is 540 square meters. km .

Bridges, crossings and tunnels

A little history. According to historians, the first bridges across the Don arose in the 1st century. BC. They were built according to the same project, invented by none other than the famous Caesar. “The logs were sharpened and joined in pairs. They were driven at an angle, like rafters. They were fastened at the top with a beam.” Such a bridge was discovered during excavations at Tanais on the banks of the Don.

The first floating bridge was built in 1837 for the arrival of Tsar-Father Nicholas I. After the Tsar had passed, a dispatch came from Rostov “Urgent! Disassemble the bridge. Return all the material to Rostov, down to a single log.”

Since then, a lot of Don water has flowed under the bridge, many bridges have been built. Among them:

2 cars in the village. Old Mamon;
railway and motor vehicles in Liski;
railway and motor vehicles in Volgodonsk;
car in Novovoronezh;
adjustable car in st. Kazanskaya;
car in st. Veshenskaya;
Rychkovsky railway bridge;
a/m via Konstantinovsky;
adjustable car in Rostov-on-Don;
Aksakaisky there;
Voroshilovsky there;
Temernitsky a/m in the same place;
railway near Green Island in the same place;
western road and railway bridges.

Rostov Drawable Railway Bridge
Historically, Aksai was an important crossing for the Don. There is a version that it was through this that Genghis Khan and his horde came to Europe.

Over time, the main route to the Caucasus began to pass through this crossing. This happened after Novocherkassk became the capital. In tsarist times, a tax of 1% of the freight was established at the crossings. And this transportation was calculated as follows. The one who needed to transport the goods had to “in good faith” inform the carrier about its size. The amount of transportation was calculated from this size. The carrier at the crossing already paid tax on this amount. Needless to say, the treasury began to regularly lack money from taxes. “In good faith” it didn’t work out; the decree had to be reissued. After the reissue, it became more profitable to transport goods by other routes than across the river.

In 1935, the newspaper “Molot” trumpeted that engineer D.N. Povalyaev was going to build a two-tier tunnel under the Don for trams, horse-drawn carriages and cars. The upper tier was allocated for movement towards the city of Bataysk, the lower tier for travel to Rostov. A sensational and daring statement. The most surprising thing is that the authorities approved the plans, but the construction remained on paper. The reasons for this are unknown.

Travel along the Don

The Don
River Reservoir is one of the favorite objects of tourist routes for rafting. On its banks there are interesting and famous historical monuments, and there are also convenient access roads to the beginning of the routes. There are many dams in the upper reaches of the river, but below the city of Voronezh there are practically no barriers.

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Tourist routes have different lengths and can start from the town of Epifan, where the river valley narrows to 0.5 km. The coastline on the right is high and steep, while on the left, on the contrary, it is sloping. The width of the Don in the upper reaches ranges from 50 to 70 meters, and there are rifts along the river.

On the right side downstream for 30 km. Below Epifani is the Kulikovo field. It was here that the decisive victorious battle with the Tatar-Mongol horde took place. When climbing the Red Hill, where the column in honor of the victory over Khan Mamai is located, a panoramic view of the battlefield opens up. Near the hill, a temple to Sergius of Radonezh and a museum of the Battle of Kulikovo were erected.

Also, sailing along the upper Don, you can visit the estate in Polibino, where you will visit the palace building and park area.

Rafting below, you need to overcome a dam and a low bridge, which were built in the village of Romanovo. At this point, the Don forms 2 branches that surround an impressive island suitable for spending the night. Further, a low bridge awaits you in the Olkhovets settlement, and then in Tomilino you will need to pass the remains of a destroyed dam.

Near the village of Lebedyan, the river flow becomes fast. Therefore, you should be careful when crossing the dam in this place.

In the village of Cherepen, another obstacle awaits, after which there is a rocky shoal and a bridge. The current in this place is very strong, so you should carefully study it before rafting.

Below, on the right side, there is a forest reserve - the Plyushchan tract, where rare plants have survived from the pre-glacial era.

The tour along the upper Don can be completed at the railway bridge near the Don station, however, it is better to go lower, where you will see the Galichya Gora tract with rare vegetation.

It is from this mountain elevation that a beautiful view of the river valley opens up. Also in the reserve you will see unusually shaped cliffs with sparse vegetation.

Galichya Gora Nature Reserve

Descending even lower, you will find yourself in the town of Zadonsk, where you can see the monastery and the ancient house of the pharmacist Ulrich.

Then the river makes a large loop, with forest belts stretching along the coastline. The rafting can be completed in the village of Semiluki or at the confluence of the Voronezh River.

At the mouth of Voronezh you will see the Zhirov Forest, which is located along the left bank.

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Rafting further along the Middle Don, you will see picturesque places, a site of ancient people from the late Stone Age.

Near the mouth of the Potudan River, on the right bank of the Don, you can see the Mordva tract, and on the left side - the flagship of the USSR - the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant.

Novovoronezh NPP

Below the city of Gheorghiu Dej, the current name is Liski, the Don becomes navigable. The width ranges from 150 to 250 meters, and the depth, even on the rifts, is more than a meter. The right bank is high and steep. Large settlements, garden plots and melon fields were built along the coastline.

You can end your journey along the river in Pavlovsk, where one of the largest granite quarries in Europe and the Shipov Forest are located. It was from the trees of this forest that Peter I created the river fleet.

Rostov on Don

Shipping

The navigation period opens on April 1 and ends on November 27. Ships sail from the city of Liski to the Sea of Azov. Navigation from Rostov-on-Don is open all year round. There are years when Azov and Don freeze completely and the passage of ships stops completely until spring.

The navigable section of the river is 1390 km. The Volga-Don Canal is also open to ships.

The river is used for transporting various goods, passenger traffic and tourist cruises. Tourists are offered 24-day tours for relaxation and sightseeing.

The largest river ports include the following:

Liski;
Volgodonsk;
Azov;
Kalach-on-Don;
Rostov-on-Don.

The directions are compiled taking into account the location of the islands, of which there are many on the river:

Arpachinsky;
Small;
Mezhonka;
Fast;
Big;
Cossack;
Shishlovsky;
Green.

Characteristics of the river

The Don River in the Lipetsk region
So, we found out in which cities the Don flows, and now let’s figure out where the mouth of the river is.

The watercourse starts from the northern regions and moves to the south. The mouth of the Don - the Sea of Azov. The river bed runs along plains, so the flow is slow along almost the entire length. The river valley is wide. The right bank is high and steep, the left bank is low.

The average depth ranges from 3 to 5 meters, and the maximum depth is 25 meters.

It receives its main nutrition from snowmelt and 30% from groundwater and rain. Freeze-up begins at the beginning of winter. In the lower reaches, the flood occurs in mid-March and quickly rises to the upper reaches. There are practically no autumn floods.

Widespread flooding is observed in the lower reaches of the river. There are 2 waves per flood:

The first is during the spring melting of the snow cover.
The second is when discharging water from the upstream.

In isolated cases, it occurs that both waves combine. This happens because the snow sometimes begins to melt a little later than usual. Then the river overflows much more, but this does not last long.

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The Don channel is divided into 3 components: upper, middle and lower reaches. The upper reaches start from the Urvanka stream and last to the mouth of Tikhaya Sosna. The riverbed is very winding and there are rifts along the stream.

Tsimlyanskaya HPP

The middle flow ends near the Tsimlyansk Reservoir. Thanks to him, the Volga-Don Canal was built, where the Tsimlyanskaya Hydroelectric Power Station was built.

The lower reaches start at Kalach-on-Don and end at the mouth of the Don in the Taganrog Bay. This span of the river covers the area below the reservoir dam and the artificial reservoir itself. The greatest depth of the Don River in this place is 15 meters.

According to scientific research, the Don belongs to the oldest rivers, its age is approximately 23 million years. It was on its banks that the Cossacks originated in the 15th century.

Settlements on the Don

Rostov is an ancient city. Back in the 18th century. it began to be considered a trading capital. Rostov fairs resounded with fame throughout Russia and abroad. Even moving the capital to Novocherkask did not harm the city. People still flocked here. During the Great Patriotic War, most of the buildings were destroyed, but literally over the next five years, half of them had already been rebuilt.

Rostov-on-Don

Today Rostov-on-Don is a city with a population of one million. The following cities are also located on the river:

Dankov (18.7 thousand);
Liski (53.5 thousand);
Zadonsk (9.5 thousand);
Novomoskovsk (122.3 thousand);
Kalach-on-Don (23.5 thousand);
Lebedyan (19.2 thousand);
Novovoronezh (31.5 thousand);
Semiluki (27 thousand);
Voronezh (1,058.2 thousand);
Aksai (46 thousand);
Tsimlyansk (14.4 thousand);
Pavlovsk (24.4 thousand);
Konstantinovsk (31.5 thousand);
Semikarakorsk (21.8 thousand);
Azov (80.4 thousand);
Volgodonsk (171.4 thousand);
Rostov-on-Don (1,137.9 thousand).

Don River on the map of Russia

Of all the rivers in the European part of vast Russia, the Don is one of the largest and deepest. It covers several regions. Striving towards its mouth, the waters of the river wash the banks of such regions as Tula, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Volgograd and Rostov. In terms of water intake area, the mighty, sedate Don is inferior only to the Danube, Dnieper and, of course, the Volga.

The place where the source is located is on the Central Russian Upland. It is located at an altitude of 182 meters above sea level. Currently, three places are considered to be the source of this river: Lake Ivan, the Shatskoe reservoir and the Urvanka stream. The question is where the Don actually originates.

Previously, it was customary to consider the source of the river to be the flow from Lake Ivan. Then a very stable theory appeared that the waters of the Don originate from the Shatsky reservoir in the Tula region, located near the city of Novomoskovsk. For a long time this statement remained unchanged, but numerous studies have shown that the true source is the Urvanka stream, located in the park of the same Novomoskovsk. An archaeological complex was even erected in the city, bearing the very telling name “Source of the Don”. True, the water here does not come from a stream at all, but is supplied from the city water supply.

The mouth of the Don River is Taganrog Bay. After traveling 1870 km, the waters of this mighty river flow into the Sea of Azov. On the banks of the Don, from source to mouth, there are large and small cities: Novomoskovsk, Dankov, Epifan, Zadonsk, Lebedyan, Liski, Novovoronezh, Semiluki, Pavlovsk, Tsimlyansk, Volgodonsk, Kalach-on-Don, Konstantinovsk, Aksai, Semikarakorsk, Rostov -on-Don and Azov. Of course, there are numerous towns and villages on the right and left banks.

Don River on the map of Russia

Underwater and above-water world of flora

In historical documents there is information that ships for the Russian-Turkish wars, on the orders of Peter I, were cut from the Don forest. Today, ship pines are becoming increasingly rare. The advance of civilization on nature is persistent and merciless.

Today the following grow near the Don waters:

buckthorn is brittle;
sticky alder;
reed;
sedge;
marsh cinquefoil;
horsetail;
loosestrife, etc.

The underwater world is represented by the usual set of algae of lowland rivers: diatoms, green, golden, blue-green, euglena. During hot summers, the water in the Don blooms, emitting a “fishy” smell. This is what toxic blue-green algae smells like. In total, 75 species of phytoplankton were found in the river.

Who lives near the river and in it

The banks of the river are attractive to birds for nesting. Although, over the past 150 years, the number of bird species in the river area has decreased quite significantly. They stopped building nests near the water:

geese;
golden eagles;
peregrine falcons;
swans;
honey beetles;
white-tailed eagles;
ospreys.

But birds began to appear that had not been seen here before: turtle doves, shrikes and magpies. They still exist, but are no longer so common:

ducks;
crows;
waders;
toadstools;
herons;
belladonna;
blackbird warblers;
storks;
greylag geese;
geese.

Amphibians and reptiles are toads, frogs, fire-bellied toads, crested newts, marsh turtle and water snake.

As for fish, there are 67 species in the river. Among them is the rarest shamaya. The rest are typical representatives of rivers flowing in a temperate climate:

bream;
carp;
roach;
zander;
bearing;
chub;
white bream;
catfish;
goby;
crucian carp;
perch;
rudd;
pike;
asp;
acne;
bleak;
ram.

Fishing on the Don is perhaps the most popular pastime. Bases are open for tourists and ordinary fishermen, where they will provide fishing gear for rent, equipment, a boat, and even be accompanied by a huntsman. Camp sites organize fishing trips to the river delta.

Ecology

Not only household garbage floats in the waters of the river, but also the entire periodic table. The Don is becoming shallower every year, the banks are collapsing, and the environmental situation is getting worse every year. The river's condition ranges from dirty to extremely dirty.

River pollution

Shipping, industrial enterprises, mines, livestock farms, thermal power plants and coal preparation plants, sewage and chemicals washed off from the fields all contribute.

Bityug River.

Bityug is a river rare in its beauty. Two sections of it are recognized as hydrological monuments. From the village Ertil to the village. Shchuchye is the first. Here, on the winding channel, narrow riffles alternate with wide reaches. The second section is from the village of Anna to the confluence of the river. Kurlak. Here the slopes of the valley are covered with oak forest. In some places the river valley is swampy. The left bank is low, and the right bank is high, covered with deciduous forest. The river is fed predominantly by snow. Freeze-up occurs from mid-December to late March. The average river flow is 18.2 m3/sec.

Among tourists and fishing enthusiasts, the river is famous for its beauty and abundance of fish. When rafting along the Bityug you can see pine forests, oak forests, sandy beaches, and fast channels. Numerous species of fish are found in the waters of the river: roach, rudd, ruffe, pike, chub, ide, bream, perch, crucian carp, burbot, tench, catfish, pike perch and others.

There are several sugar factories on Bityug. During the sugar-making season, emergency wastewater discharges often occurred. As a result, fish, invertebrates and aquatic vegetation sensitive to pollution died.

Sights and tourism

On the Don, along with tourism, treasure hunting is thriving. It is believed that there are countless numbers of them buried along the banks. At different times, buried treasures were found in the form of jugs with coins, unknown multi-colored stones, gold jewelry and more. The treasures were given to museums, where they can be seen today.

Tourists will also be interested in archaeological sites. There are many ancient burial mounds in the Don region.

And this list is a note for travelers:

Underground monastery;
Aksai catacombs;
Therapeutic mud o. Georgian;
Long Canyon;
Therapeutic o. Pelenkino;
Lost World;
Skeletal rock;
Don Lukomorye;
Karaul Mountain;
Gray-haired Manych.

The latter is a tributary. Historians claim that Manych is much older than Don.

Healing mud of Lake Gruzskoe

In addition to these attractions, there are many natural monuments on the river. There are 25 of them in the Voronezh region alone. The Don region invites you to healing mud and mineral waters. For vacationers, sanatoriums, dispensaries, recreation centers, and many comfortable beaches have been built. Water sailing and tourist cruises are thriving.

Don in culture. Don Day

Don is considered a father, as stated by the sculpture installed on the embankment in Rostov-on-Don.

The river is mentioned more than once in cultural works. The river was glorified in songs by such performers as:

Mikhail Shufutinsky - “Left Bank of the Don”;
Alexander Rosenbaum - “On the Don, on the Don”;
Vyacheslav Malezhik - “Don River”;
Folk - “A young Cossack is walking along the Don”
Folk - “Ah, Don River.”

Many songs were invented by Cossacks and ordinary people. These works live to this day.

In literature, the river is glorified by M. Sholokhov. The writer lived his entire life in a Cossack village, which was later named after him. His “Quiet Don” was filmed 5 times.

Every year in July the river festival is held. Don. It takes place en masse at several venues. On this day, master classes, vocal and choreographic competitions, competitions in various sports, and fish soup are held for residents of Rostov and guests of the city.

Dirty and shallow. How the Don has changed in the Voronezh region

The Don River in the Voronezh region is being tested for microplastic content in the water. These are non-degradable plastic waste particles. The study is being conducted by the “Without Rivers is Like Without Hands” Foundation. During an expedition to the Tsimlyansk Reservoir in Rostov-on-Don this summer, ecologists found that the total content of microplastics there now does not exceed 750 kg. This is relatively little - for example, the Danube carries up to 50 tons of microplastics per year into the Black Sea. However, Don is changing quite a lot even without this. How and why – Vesti Voronezh correspondent Anna Avdeeva found out.

Two in the boat, not counting the equipment. This is how environmentalists go on their expeditions. Water samples in several areas are taken using a special device - a special network, as well as a sensor of hydrochemical indicators. Strong attention is paid to areas near wastewater treatment plants. The “brown” water is from there, scientists say.

Expedition leader Maxim Platonov says this is their second visit to Voronezh. Last time, he says, they discovered an abnormally high content of dangerous microplastic particles. Now we decided to make sure that these were not the consequences of a single reset.

– In many samples where we found microplastic, it was represented by completely different particles of different origins. These were fibers, granules, some kind of fragments. And here 99% of the pollution is film. And we're trying to figure this out. There are suspicions that this is one source that, in our opinion, causes significant damage to the ecological state of the Don River,” commented Maxim Platonov, scientific consultant of the non-profit foundation “Without Rivers as Without Hands.”

Microplastics are particles that are formed during the rotting of solid household waste, the use of cosmetics and household chemicals, peeling paint and abrasion of tires. Scientists assume that decomposition, for example, of plastic bottles, will relatively soon join this list.

Environmentalists don’t yet know exactly how dangerous the particles are. But they are sure that this will be clear in a few decades. Even the most modern wastewater treatment plants only capture up to 70% of microplastics. The remains are consumed by plankton and fish. Particles also end up in water supply systems. How many of them there are in the Don will now be found out in the capital’s laboratory.

But this is all something that cannot be considered without special equipment. Meanwhile, Don is changing in appearance. Large-scale floods have not been observed in the region for 10 years, they say at the Hydrometeorological Center. The reason for this is climate change, global warming at the regional level. Winters have become warmer, and most of the precipitation falls in the form of rain and remains in the soil.

– Previously, when winters were colder, this led to a certain amount of snow accumulating during these periods. There was snow accumulation, and in the spring, when it melted during the flood, it all flowed into the rivers. And it was kind of like the work of a bulldozer that cleared river beds. That is, it was a favorable moment in the life of the river,” notes the head of the Voronezh hydrometeorological center, Alexander Sushkov.

People also helped the river. When shipping was developed in the region, the riverbed was cleaned with a dredge every spring. But over time, the need for travel and transporting goods by water disappeared, and silt and sand began to accumulate at the bottom. Because of this, experts say, entire islands began to appear. Now the Don in the Voronezh region is considered essentially unsuitable for navigation - too shallow.

There is also less water in the Don, mainly due to the shallowing of tributaries. Research by hydrologists ten years ago showed that 31 small rivers with a length of 10 kilometers or more had disappeared in the region - they simply did not count less. Due to the lack of floods, first of all, the network of streams collapses, experts say. This is the main source of water for small rivers.

– Almost at the mouth of the Sosna River, a tributary disappeared – the Korytina River, 33 km long. Now it is not in the water register at all, not in the state water register. The Sosna River - in the upper reaches of the Don, is its most significant tributary in terms of water content at the mouth. And the volume of runoff is about 2 cubic km. This is even more than the Voronezh River brings to the Don,” notes Vera Dmitrieva, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor at VSU.

And, of course, people influence the river. In the region, 15 large enterprises have permission to discharge waste into the Don. Their quality is monitored, paradoxically, independently - they report quarterly. However, in case of violations, the fines for them are insignificant. The regional Donskoy administration believes that the state of the water in the river has not changed for the last few years, and it is assessed as polluted.

– We ourselves, the residents of our region, and our farmers, and our producers who directly work on these water bodies, also make a big contribution to the siltation of our artery – the Don River. Plowing the river bed to the water's edge is strictly prohibited, but in pursuit of large areas it still continues, says Yuri Dolgopolov, head of the water resources department of the Don Basin Administration.

The economy of the region, however, will be one of the first to suffer from the low water supply of the river. This has already been felt in the Rostov region, so they proposed developing a program for improving the health of the Don basin. A similar project in Russia is already in effect for the Volga.