Where is the reservoir? What is a reservoir? The largest reservoirs in Russia

The water resources that our country is so abundant in are not distributed very evenly across its territory.


In some areas there is an excess water resources, in others, on the contrary, there is a constant lack of fresh water. But especially sensitive to economic activity are seasonal fluctuations in river levels. To reduce their influence and make river flow more uniform, in the previous century an extensive network of reservoirs was created - artificial reservoirs of various capacities.

What is a reservoir?

As the name suggests, a reservoir is an artificial structure specifically designed to store water. In size, it is quite comparable to a large or medium-sized lake: the vast majority of reservoirs hold more than a million cubic meters of water, and the largest of them have a volume exceeding 500 million cubic meters.

They are created, as a rule, by blocking the river bed with a dam. There are also lake-type reservoirs, where excess water is discharged into a lake and then, as needed, flows from there into a river or canal system.

The water in the reservoir does not remain completely still, as in a lake, and retains the forward movement of the river flow, but it is significantly slower compared to the river. In addition, reservoirs of this type are characterized by:

— significant seasonal fluctuations in water level, which rises in spring and autumn, gradually decreasing during the winter and summer seasons;

- colder water than in lakes due to the incessant current;

- freezing of small reservoirs earlier, and freezing of large ones - later than rivers, and the melting of ice is observed later than that of rivers, in both cases;

In addition to the bowl, any reservoir necessarily includes a dam (dam), which is installed across the flow of the river, as well as a water purification station. The depth of the bottom near the dam is usually much greater than near the shore opposite the dam.

Why are reservoirs needed?

Currently, reservoirs exist in many countries around the world and on all continents except Australia.


The need for them is caused by seasonal fluctuations in river water levels. In our country, during the spring flood, up to 70% of the total annual river flow flows through river beds, depending on the region.

In winter and summer, on the contrary, there is a sharp lack of water in the river, and precisely when it is needed. The construction of reservoirs made it possible to solve this problem: excess water is accumulated in the reservoir and then gradually discharged into the river, thereby maintaining its more or less constant level.

The presence of reservoirs has a positive impact on human economic activity. With their help:

— the risk of floods, flooding of residential buildings, farmland, industrial enterprises, etc. is reduced;

— conditions for navigation of river transport are improving, it becomes possible to operate large deep-sea vessels, which are more profitable than small ones;

— cascades of hydroelectric power stations are being created to generate cheap electricity without polluting the environment;

— fish farms are being created to breed valuable species river fish;

— the space of recreational zones is increasing.

At the same time, there are also negative aspects of creating reservoirs, which are expressed in disruption of existing ecosystems, flooding large quantity arable land, sometimes even with populated areas, which is why people have to be resettled, in swamping areas located upstream of the dam along the river, etc.

Reservoirs: history and modernity

Humanity has felt the need to build reservoirs since the first states began to emerge around settled settlements of farmers. Small reservoirs existed back in Ancient Egypt: farmers stored water in them during the Nile flood, and then gradually used it to irrigate the land. Reservoirs existed in ancient China and India, and later in medieval Europe. But only with the advent of the century of steam and electricity, the energy of river flows began to be used in industrial production.


Largest number The reservoirs that currently exist were built in the 50-60s of the twentieth century. Their construction continued later, but not so actively. Today, there are about 30,000 reservoirs around the world, the total volume of water in which reaches 6,000 cubic kilometers.

Economic activities use about 3,500 cubic kilometers of water - an amount approximately equal to a tenth of the total annual flow of all the world's rivers. At the same time, territories with a total area of ​​up to 350,000 square kilometers were flooded.

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 geographical maps of 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 station caused the Volga to spill over 327 square kilometers. The Ivankovo ​​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 ships could not navigate before. 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. The length of the reservoir, which for a long time remained the largest in the world, is 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 ones. 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 the 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! The Krasnoyarsk reservoir ranks second in Russia in terms of its fullness. 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 and settlements for many kilometers. 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.

Artificial reservoirs in river valleys are important reservoirs of fresh water and regulate flow. The first reservoirs appeared in Ancient Egypt, and today they are built everywhere. There are more than a hundred large reservoirs in Russia. They differ from each other in volume, surface area and amplitude of water level fluctuations. The country's largest reservoir in terms of area is Kuibyshevskoye, and in terms of water volume - Bratskoye. This article presents the ten largest reservoirs in Russia with a brief description, location on the map and photos.

Kuibyshevskoe

Kuibyshev Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir covers the Republic of Tatarstan, the Chuvash Republic, the Ulyanovsk and Samara regions. The total volume is 53 km³, and the mirror area is 6450 km². It was built to improve navigation.

Kuibyshev Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

After the pit was filled, the climate and the region changed. The reservoir is not calm, the wave height exceeds 3 m. The Zhigulevsky Nature Reserve is located on the right bank of the Volga. There are many tourist centers and sanatoriums. There are plenty of fish in the numerous river mouths and bays.

Bratskoe

Bratsk Reservoir/Wikipedia

A reservoir with an area of ​​5470 km², located in the Irkutsk region. The total volume is 169 km³, making it the second largest artificial reservoir in the world. It was built with the aim of developing shipping, timber rafting, water supply and energy generation. The coastline is heavily indented; the shape of the reservoir resembles a dragon.

Bratsk Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

Wood sunk during rafting heavily pollutes the water. There are 25 species of commercial fish. Along the banks there are children's camps, tourist centers and sanatoriums.

Rybinskoe

Rybinsk Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in the Tver, Volgograd and Yaroslavl regions. The total volume is 25.4 km³; area - 4580 km². The creation of the reservoir had a tremendous impact on local nature, huge areas were flooded.

Rybinsk Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

Today it is a major water transport hub and electricity supplier. The reservoir is home to 38 species of fish.

Volgogradskoe

Volgograd Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in the Saratov and Volgograd regions. The total volume is 31.5 km³; area - 3117 km². The reservoir plays an important role in shipping, energy, agriculture and irrigation of lands in the region.

Volgograd Reservoir on the map/Wikipedia

Over half a century of history, a unique flora and fauna have formed here. It is a popular destination for tourism and recreation, but fishing is strictly regulated by law.

Tsimlyanskoe

Tsimlyansk Reservoir from space/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in the Rostov and Volgograd regions. The total volume is 23.8 km³; area - 2702 km². It was created for the purpose of irrigation, navigation, control of flow and provision of drinking water.

Tsimlyansk Reservoir on the map/Wikipedia

Today the reservoir is heavily polluted. This is due to wastewater discharges and the development of pathogenic bacteria. However, the banks of the reservoir are actively used; there are campsites and numerous recreation centers there.

Zeyskoye

Zeya Reservoir on the map/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in Amur region. The total volume is 68.4 km³; area - 2420 km². The main purpose is electricity production, fishing, water supply and timber rafting. The reservoir has saved the region from major floods more than once.

Zeya Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

The pit is filled due to monsoon rains, characteristic of the Far East. After the construction of the reservoir, transport communications on ice and spawning migration of fish were disrupted. It has become warmer in the reservoir area. Savage holidays are popular on Zeysky; you can use the services of a tourist base.

Vilyuiskoe

Vilyui Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in Yakutia. The total volume is 40.4 km³; area - 2360 km². The reservoir was created for the purpose of developing navigation, hydropower and obtaining fresh water. This is a unique structure, built in conditions.

Vilyui Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

The shoreline of the reservoir is heavily indented, with flat areas giving way to cliffs. The climate in the reservoir area is sharply continental. Under the influence of thermal pollution, permafrost thaws, as a result of which the banks of the reservoir are destroyed.

Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located on the Yenisei River. The total volume is 73.3 km³; area - 2000 km². Is the largest body of water Krasnoyarsk Territory. Four rivers flow into the reservoir: Syda, Sisim, Tuba and Biryuza.

Krasnoyarsk Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

There are a lot of caves in the coastal zone, some reaching 6 km in length. Tourism is developed on the Krasnoyarsk reservoir. There are numerous beaches on the gently sloping shores. Here you can ride boats, speedboats, and jet skis. In favorable weather, regattas and rowing competitions are held. There are many camp sites on the reservoir.

Kumskoe

The reservoir is located in the Republic of Karelia. The total volume is 13.3 km³; area - 1910 km². It was built in 1962. During construction, a large area of ​​agricultural land was flooded, and many buildings had to be demolished.

Kuma Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

Today the reservoir is a resource for hydroelectric power plants. It supplies people with water and regulates flow. The reservoir is popular with fishermen due to the abundance of commercial fish. "Paanajärvi" is founded on one of the banks.

Sayano-Shushenskoye

Kuma Reservoir/Wikipedia

The reservoir is located in the republics of Tyva and Khakassia, and in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Despite the relatively small area (621 km²) compared to previous reservoirs, the total volume of the reservoir is 31.3 km³. The reservoir was created for the purpose of energy development, water supply and flow regulation.

Sayano-Shushenskoye Reservoir on the map of Russia/Wikipedia

The transport significance of the reservoir is small. Today, the Sayano-Shushensky reservoir attracts fishing enthusiasts. Taimen, grayling, pike and bream live here. On the shore there is "Sayano-Shushensky" and National Park"Shushensky Bor".

The Tsimlyansk Reservoir is a reservoir that is unique in its kind. The fact is that this is the only structure of this type that is located on the Don River. It is located on the territory of two regions at once: Rostov and Volgograd. Home part of the dam The reservoir is located near the city of Tsimlyansk.

History and purpose of creation

It is worth noting that the construction of the Tsimlyansk reservoir is a fairly large-scale project, which began in 1948 and was completed in 1953. The reservoir was completely filled in the year the work was completed.

Immediately after the creation of the reservoir, the annual flow of the Don began to fall and from twenty-nine cubic kilometers dropped to eighteen. The total volume of the reservoir is twenty-three cubic kilometers, of which twelve are useful volume.

The maximum width of the reservoir is thirty-eight kilometers and the depth is thirty meters. The reservoir bowl is a large pit with three extensions, which are located at the mouths of the Chir, Aksai, Kurmoyarsky and Tsimla rivers.

This reservoir was created for one single purpose: it was necessary certain depth in order to ensure navigation. The Volga-Don route became the basis of shipping in the Volgograd and Rostov regions.

This also made it possible to ensure the production of electricity at the hydroelectric power station. Electricity is necessary to ensure the life of people and everything that happens around them.

The Tsimlyansk Reservoir was created many years ago, but it has not lost its significance to this day. With his help, conditions were created for independent and continuous irrigation of dry lands. This occurs along the entire course of the lower Don rivers Sal, Manych and other lands that are adjacent to the Tsimlyansk reservoir.

Flood zone

Where the Tsimlyansk reservoir is located, there used to be a territory that has an area of ​​more than two hundred and fifty hectares of land. These were estates and vegetable gardens, orchards and vineyards, arable lands and hayfields. When flooding occurs, more than one hundred and fifty settlements and part of the city of Kalach-on-Don fall into its zone.

When the reservoir was completely filled, a historical monument - the Khazar fortress city of Sarkel - was under water.

When the flooding occurred, sections of the Volgograd-Likhaya railway line entered its zone. This happened at the Dmitrievka-Kumovka junction and at the intersection of the Don and Liski tributary lines. As a result, work was carried out to transfer and strengthening embankments roads and a bridge was built across the Chersky Strait.

Many historical publications described details of the resettlement of a large number of residents of the Vladimir and Rostov regions.

Use and environmental implications

The Tsimlyansk Reservoir is often used for irrigation. The Don Main Canal was built in Volgodonsk, which was erected simultaneously with the Tsimlyansk Hydroelectric Power Station.

In order to carry out periodic irrigation, about two cubic kilometers of water are taken from the reservoir. On this artificial sea, are major ports- Volgodonsk and Kalach-on-Don. On the very shore of the reservoir is the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant.

It is important to note that after the creation of the reservoir, the hydrological regime of the Azov Sea changed and its productivity decreased. The salinity of the sea was lower than the salinity of the ocean, and was about 10 ppm in the central part of the sea. After the Tsimlyansk reservoir was put into operation, the salinity of the sea began to increase and is already at around 13 ppm.

Ecologists do not give a definite answer whether the creation of the Tsimlyansk reservoir led to an improvement in the ecological state of nature and people’s lives, but one thing is certain: it was beneficial.

Attractions of the place

Through the efforts of local authorities, a unique expeditionary local history field camp was created on the territory of the Tsimlyansky district. It was designed to enable its participants to carry out various archaeological studies. They take place on the shore of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir near the village of Khoroshevskaya. The expedition members received a unique task - to find an old paved road that was created during the time of Peter the Great: the so-called Petrovsky tract. Marl blocks were transported along it to the Cherkassy fortress when the Tsimlyansk settlement on the right bank of the Don was being dismantled.

During archaeological excavations the following were found:

• Seventeenth century coins;
• Buttons;
• Buckles;
• Jewelry made of bronze, gold, silver;
• Other valuables.

Archaeologists greatly value everything that was discovered during numerous expeditions.

The results of creating a unique reservoir are as follows:

• A large reservoir appeared, which made it possible to make a large supply of water;
• A unique natural area of ​​the ecosystem has been created;
• The salt balance in the Sea of ​​Azov has increased;
• It became possible to irrigate the nearby area;
• New routes for shipping opened up.

From all this we can conclude that a water reservoir is definitely needed. But it is important to keep track of all changes environment that arise during the process of its creation.

Reservoirs are a creation of man

The most successful direction in man's transformation of natural conditions can be considered the creation of reservoirs. Which of them is worthy of the title “The largest reservoir in Russia”?

Man is constantly trying to remake nature to suit his needs. Thanks to this desire, a huge number of artificial reservoirs with fresh water have appeared on the planet, used for fish farming, water supply, navigation, or for energy production. The size of reservoirs can vary from a small lake to a huge reservoir. So which of the reservoirs located in Russia is the largest?

Rybinsk Reservoir

Many Russian reservoirs are on the list of the largest artificial reservoirs in the world. Most of them were created in the second half of the twentieth century. Their distribution on the territory of Russia is uneven. Most of them are located in the European part of the country (more than a thousand), while the Asian side has much less (about a hundred). If we collect all the reservoirs in one area, their total volume will be more than one million square meters.

Initially, the Rybinsk Reservoir was considered the largest artificially created reservoir. Its length is about one hundred forty kilometers, width sixty kilometers. The area of ​​the reservoir is about four and a half thousand square kilometers, which is only half the size of Lake Onega. The depth is not too great - about six meters, only in some areas the figure reaches nine to ten meters. Its construction began five years before the start of the Second World War, however, even in difficult times for Russia, the filling of the reservoir continued. The reservoir was completely filled only in nineteen forty-seven. Moreover, to build the reservoir, more than six hundred villages that were under water had to be resettled. Sometimes this reservoir is called the Rybinsk Sea. Used for fishing and shipping.

Dam of Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station

Seven years after the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir, the construction of the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station dam is completed and the Kuibyshev reservoir appears, with an area of ​​six and a half thousand square kilometers. By the way, this reservoir is considered the most turbulent among the Volga reservoirs. The height of the waves there during a storm often exceeds three meters. Thus, the Rybinsk Sea, which once bore the title of “The largest reservoir in Russia,” falls one step lower.

Currently, the largest reservoir (among the riverbeds) not only in Russia, but throughout the world is considered to be Bratsk. The shape of the reservoir is quite unique: wide reaches are combined with long and winding bays. The reservoir appeared in nineteen sixty-one, but the design mark was reached only six years later. The volume of the reservoir is about one hundred and seventy cubic kilometers. The area is about five and a half thousand square kilometers. The length is more than five hundred kilometers, and the maximum depth is one hundred and six meters. In addition to energy purposes, the Bratsk Reservoir is used for timber rafting, fisheries, water transport, industrial and municipal water supply. Thanks to the emergence of the Bratsk Reservoir, many tributaries became navigable.

In conclusion, it should be said that any reservoir, regardless of size, is useful for humans. They make it possible to improve the quality of industrial and municipal water supply to industrial centers and large cities.