The Volga River, part of the cultural code of the Russian people, is sung in songs, masterpieces of painting and literature. But no matter how paradoxical it may sound, the Volga is not really a river.
If not a river, then what
If you look at the Volga from the point of view of modern hydrology, it turns out that the great Russian river is a whole cascade of reservoirs and a flowing lake. Just very large. But she was a river, no one argues with that, though it was a very long time ago. Now, because of the hydraulic structures, the Volga has turned into a gigantic reservoir. According to hydrology, if a river becomes regulated along its course, it is no longer a river in the full sense of the word. The Volga channel is blocked in eight places by dams, starting from the Tver region and up to the Volgograd region. As for the river sections, they are also almost gone. For example, the city of Yaroslavl no longer stands on the banks of the Volga River, but is located on the Gorky reservoir.
The cascade of reservoirs - this is now the Volga.
Does the Volga flow into the Caspian Sea
Only a small number of riophilic sites remain, and they are all behind the dams. The natural current is still present in the section from Zhigulevsk to Samara. River organisms still live here. Unfortunately, like a river and a natural reservoir, the Volga has already been lost forever.
Promotional video:
Scientists have long argued over whether the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea. It would seem, what is there to argue, everything should be clear from the point of view of the same hydrology. But everything again depends on the characteristics. In the area where the Volga and Kama confluence, the second has more water by 1,200 cubic meters than the reservoir. It turns out that this is not the Volga, but just the Kama flows into the Caspian Sea. A cascade of reservoirs flows into the Kama.
Endangered
The Volga is very deep due to the melted snows. Only 60% of this reservoir is snow. The rest is groundwater and rain. And until a hydroelectric power station was built on the Volga, during floods it was possible to swim in the streets of Rybinsk. It was near the Volga that the capital of barge haulers was formed. They came to Rybinsk to be hired for this hard work.
As a river and a natural body of water, the Volga has already been lost forever.
The Volga was previously considered the largest river, in length it reached more than 3,000 km. There are 4 million-plus cities on the Volga, 8 hydroelectric power plants have been installed. But the cascade of reservoirs, as it is customary to call the Volga, is under threat. Of all the hundreds of cities that are located in its basin, 65 are among the most environmentally unfriendly in the country. Tens of millions of people live in its basin; a decent part of the agricultural and industrial sectors is also concentrated here. The biosphere is also suffering - the fish that live in the local waters have developed mutations, some types of algae have begun to multiply very actively. Environmentalists say directly that the Volga is in danger of becoming a real swamp.