Gorky Reservoir, Nizhny Novgorod Region

Landscape of the Gorky Sea. Photo by S. Kalinin Locks of the Gorky Reservoir Sea. Territory of SOL "Fora" Rally on the occasion of the flooding of the foundation pit of the Gorky hydroelectric power station

Gorky Reservoir, "Gorky Sea" (More-More)

- the main reservoir in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Soviet press called it the Gorky Sea, and by the people, for short, “Grief-Sea”.

Area - 1590 km², volume - 8.71 km³, average depth - 3.65 m, maximum depth - 22 m, length - 427 km, width - up to 16 km.

The average ice thickness is 65 centimeters.

Background[edit]

Formed by the dam of the Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric power station, filled in 1955-1957.

Located in Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo, Kostroma and Yaroslavl 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. High and picturesque banks are located in the area of ​​​​the city of Plyos. Weekly flow regulation is carried out; fluctuations in water level up to 2 m. Created in the interests of energy and shipping. Widely used for recreation and fishing. On the banks there are cities: Gorodets, Puchezh, Chkalovsk, Yuryevets, Kineshma, Zavolzhye, Navoloki, Plyos, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Tutaev, Rybinsk.

Fishing

Fishing experts conditionally divide the Gorky Reservoir into three reaches:

1. Pridamtinny - from the river. Jolnat to the Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric power station dam, 90 km long and 14 km wide. There are many large bays in this area, which are formed by inflowing rivers. Here live those fish in whose development the current does not play a special role.
2. Rechnoy - stretches for 345 km from the dam of the Rybinsk hydroelectric station to the river. Fuck it. Moreover, the average width of the section is 2 km. Most often, river fish are found here - dace, asp, sterlet, perch, chub.
3. The Kostroma Razliv is a valuable lake-type area of ​​about 35 km with an indented coastline. There is no current, there are many islands and small tributaries. Such conditions make this area attractive for breeding and wintering fish. Pike, roach and bream are especially plump in the flood.

In general, the Gorky Reservoir is home to more than 30 species of fish. The most numerous representatives of the ichthyofauna are: ruffe, roach, sabrefish, sopa, perch and bleak. Pike perch, burbot and bream are less common.

© Irina Glazunova

Not only summer but also winter fishing is popular on the Gorky Sea. The main “prey” of ice fishing is perch from 150 g to 2–3 kg. Bersh, pike perch and roach also bite. You may catch carp or ide. The ice on the reservoir lasts from late November to early May. In a particularly warm spring, it begins to fade at the end of April.

Map of the depths and bays of the Gorky Reservoir

One of the favorite places among fishermen is the dam next to the hydroelectric power station due to the peculiarities of the bottom topography (depressions, transverse spits, deep holes) and slow current. Most often, bream, chub, roach, white-eye, and ruff are caught from the dam. Fishing bases with developed infrastructure and offers for organizing various types of fishing are popular:

• “Ershikha” in the village of the same name in the Yuryevets district, where everyone will find something to their liking at any time of the year;
• “Yurkinsky Cape” in the village of Yurkino, surrounded by coniferous forest;
• "Cape Verde" in the village. Reshma, created by a professional fisherman who will help you choose a good fishing spot not only on the Volga, but also in the surrounding rivers;
• The “Volzhskoye Compound” in the village of Vorobetsovo will provide you with rest in a wooden house and everything you need for fishing.

Useful activities[edit]

Gore-Sea is a treasure trove of tourist centers and boarding houses. It’s a rare person living in the Nizhny Novgorod region (and not only) who has not rested on it. Gore-Sea is also a place of pilgrimage for barbecue makers, mattress makers, students, yachtsmen and simply slobs of all ranks. The shore, especially in the area of ​​the Burevestnik boarding house, has become very shallow. There are rumors that they are planning to use a dredge soon and return it to its former depth. But for now, lying on the beach, you can observe a gratifying picture: hunched, burnt figures sadly wandering for kilometers through the water to swim.

Fishing on the Gorky Reservoir[edit]

In 1956, the Volga was blocked at Gorodets by the dam of the Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Power Station. A reservoir with an area of ​​160 thousand hectares was formed (its length is 430 km, average width 3.5 km). On the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region there is a lower section with an area of ​​17 thousand hectares. This is a favorite place for fishermen. The reservoir stretches from the hydroelectric dam and beyond the borders of the region, further up to Yuryevets. Above this city, the reservoir retains the appearance of a deep river about 3 km wide. In the part near the dam it spread across the entire Volga valley to a width of 10-12 km. Depths in the flooded floodplain are 10-15 m, and in the flooded channel - up to 22 m. From Yuryevets to the Volga region, the right bank is high, steep, steep in places, the left bank is low, overgrown with forest. Along the valleys of the Volga tributaries, shallow bays protruding deeply into the shore were formed, up to 5 km wide at the mouth. The largest of them are along the Unzhe and Nemda rivers, and within the Nizhny Novgorod region - along Trotsa and South.

The hydrochemical regime of the reservoir is favorable for fish. Only in those places where extensive peat bogs were flooded in the floodplain do frost phenomena sometimes occur in winter, although they are not widespread. There is almost no current in the dam area. Of greater importance for fish is the wind movement of water and its agitation.

A very important factor in the life of fish is the fluctuation of water levels in winter, which makes reservoirs very different from natural reservoirs. The hydroelectric power station operates in constant mode, which is due to the need for sanitary releases. The water reserve accumulated in the spring is used up for the next flood. After completion of navigation, the drawdown accelerates: in the period from December to March-April there is a significant decrease (sometimes up to 2 m) from the normal retaining horizon. At the same time, the shallow waters are drained, the ice collapses, lies on the ground and cuts off large areas from the reservoir. This is where the freeze occurs. Sometimes a lot of fish die under the settled ice, the ground freezes, causing the rhizomes of coastal plants to die. Vegetation along the banks of reservoirs develops poorly.

In the spring, in April-May, the reservoir is filled. At this time, the level fluctuation does not exceed 20-40 cm, but this also has a detrimental effect on the fish, a lot of laid eggs disappear either from drying out or from abnormal flooding. Reproduction, that is, the reproduction of fish that lay eggs on coastal vegetation (many carp, pike, etc.), is difficult here. This has a negative impact on fish stocks.

The reservoir is cleared of ice later than the rivers, usually at the beginning of May, and only in warm years - somewhat earlier, at the end of April. First, the ice melts in the open reaches, and only then in the bays.

As already mentioned, the flow in the reservoir, especially in the part near the dam, is very slow. In terms of its regime, this body of water most closely resembles a low-flow lake. River fish that love currents (podust, chub, sterlet, etc.) moved up or into tributaries, and their numbers fell.

Migratory fish - lamprey, herring, sturgeon - have ceased to be found. But the fish for which the lake regime turned out to be suitable felt great in the first years of the reservoir’s existence. In 1956-1957 Vast areas of fertile floodplains, covered with shrubs and meadow vegetation, were flooded. Conditions for laying eggs turned out to be very favorable. Numerous juveniles born during these years found abundant food, as all aquatic organisms, including those that fish feed on, developed rapidly.

The number of such fish. like a pike. bream. silver bream, roach, perch, etc., has increased sharply. They all grew well. But the period of intensive development of aquatic organisms was short-lived. Already in the 3-4th year after the flooding, the flooded vegetation began to die off, spawning areas decreased, conditions for fish reproduction worsened, and an unstable level regime began to have an effect. In addition, in a young reservoir, such as a reservoir, productive silt has not yet accumulated at the bottom. Therefore, the number of bottom animals living in it is small. Many fish that feed on them lack food and therefore grow slowly. Bream, for example, instead of bloodworms begins to eat planktonic crustaceans, which is unusual for it and for which it is poorly adapted. Something similar happens with other fish.

The most numerous species in the reservoir are perch, ruffe, roach, sopa, bleak, sabrefish, and the most valuable commercial fish are bream. Not much pike perch. There is still little blue blue in our reservoir, which is abundant in some southern Volga and Dnieper reservoirs. Burbot has also become rare. But new fish appeared. These are Belozersk vendace and lake smelt, spreading throughout the Upper Volga. Occasionally, eels are caught, penetrating the Volga from Lake Seliger.

To increase the productivity of the reservoir, valuable food organisms were released into it - gammarid crustaceans, and fish - freshwater Siberian sturgeon fry and whitefish peled larvae. All the settlers have settled down, but are still small in number. Peled, however, is sometimes caught with a fishing rod and is known to fishermen. Fishing on the reservoir is productive. They fish here both in winter and summer. The most famous places among amateur fishermen are the Trotse and Sanakhta rivers. Fishing is good on Micha, Mocha, and especially on Unzha in the Ivanovo region. In autumn and winter, perch and ruffe are caught, and in March large roach bite, reaching 25 and even 35 cm in length and up to 1 kg in weight.

Climate and nature of the Gorky Sea

The climatic conditions are moderate, winters are cold and long, and summers are warm and short. In bad weather you can see a storm and waves up to 2 meters high. People call this body of water Gore-Sea. Sand dunes and water meadows extend along the entire coast of the reservoir. The humid climate gave rise to coniferous forests around the Gorky Sea. The air there has a unique healing property. In the forests you can meet small animals - foxes, moose, hares, wolves.

Beaches on the Gorky Sea

There is sand along the entire coast of the Gore-Sea. Steep and shallow shores make up the terrain. Sandy hills erode the waters, so the transparency of the reservoir is low. Part of the territory is developed for beach holidays. Many holiday homes were built on the Gorky Sea in Soviet times, and they are still in operation. In addition, yachtsmen and tourists with tents come here and spend their weekends here. Modern yacht clubs, following the example of the Moscow Sea, and a new surf camp attract hundreds of tourists every year to regattas and festivals, fishing competitions for amateurs and professionals.

Weather on the Gorky Sea

In summer, the average temperature on the Gorky Sea is about 20 degrees. Cloudiness is high all year round, the sky is overcast for half of the day. Spring moves quickly, and summer weather sets in in June. In summer there is a lot of rain and it rains briefly, but intensely. Thunderstorms are a common occurrence in summer, sometimes in winter. Winter is long and cold, with freezing water bodies.

Sights of the Gorky Sea

The Gorky Reservoir is a navigable reservoir. It was created for these purposes, as well as for areas of mass recreation and fishing. The turbines of the Gorky hydroelectric power station are powered by energy from the reservoir dams. This is its special significance for the Nizhny Novgorod region. The “Floating University” helps in researching aquatic plants and animals, and geographical phenomena. The scientific expedition lasts in the warm season from June to October. Sea state monitoring helps analyze the state of water and living organisms, and promptly respond to the negative consequences of human activity or nature. The public is concerned about the problem of “blooming water”. Scientists explain this phenomenon by the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria from algae. Bacteria release toxins that kill algae that absorb oxygen, and along with this, fish die. Environmentalists have learned to combat this problem with the latest technologies. The recreational zone of the Gorky Sea along the coast creates conditions for recreation of the population, the creation of hotels and tourist centers. In the area of ​​the city of Yuryevets there are small islands; this is an amazing phenomenon, not typical for reservoirs.

Interesting facts about the Gorky Sea

The volume of water in the Gorky Sea is greater than in the entire Volga River. Scientists have discovered a new phenomenon in the waters - large eddies that until now form only in the oceans. In the center of the vortex are clusters of blue-green algae. Biologists have discovered a new species of algae in the Gorky Sea - an invader that lives in North America. Volga researchers have created a unique radar that helps detect oil spills on the surface of the water.

Gorky Sea in natural history[edit]

The Gorky Sea, the third upstream in the Volga cascade of reservoirs, was formed in 1955, it spread widely over the meadow lands of the Upper Volga. Flooding of such valuable lands is a negative phenomenon when constructing hydroelectric power stations on lowland rivers. Although it is the average size of the Volga seas, its area is large - about 1600 square kilometers.

In the dam on the right bank of the Volga there is a hydroelectric power station building, and on the left bank there are two rows, or, as they say, two threads, of two-chamber locks, separated by an intermediate water space - the pool, where the Gorodets shipyard is located. This allows ships heading up and down the Volga to pass through the locks at the same time. With a sharp decrease in the flow speed in the reservoir compared to the previous speed in the river (it decreased several times - from 0.7-1.5 to 0.2-0.4 m/sec), the duration of the freeze-up increased significantly: now the reservoir freezes over a week earlier (around November 20) and a week and a half later it opens (at the end of April). The average ice thickness is 65 centimeters (maximum up to 1 m).

Despite its large area, the Gorky Sea affects the climate of the adjacent territory no further than half a kilometer from the shores, increasing air humidity and causing light breezes that moderate the midday heat in hot weather. The left shore of the sea, sometimes completely sloping with sandbanks, sometimes steep, washed away, is almost entirely covered with forest, either purely pine or mixed with birch copses.

Geography of the Gorky region. Trube L.L.