The Angara River flows throughout Eastern Siberia. It is the only one flowing from Lake Baikal. It is also the largest tributary of the Yenisei. Its length is one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine kilometers.
The catchment basin has an area of 1,040,000 square kilometers. The average water flow is four thousand five hundred and thirty cubic meters per second. Numerous reservoirs carry out seasonal and long-term flow regulation. There are about forty thousand different streams and rivers in the basin. Their total length is more than one hundred and sixty thousand kilometers.
The source of the Angara, as already mentioned, is in Lake Baikal. Here, in the middle of the channel, a Shaman-stone sticks out of the water. It blocks the channel, being a natural dam. There is a very beautiful legend about the origin of the river. The daughter of Baikal, escaping from his power, rushed to the Yenisei. The angry father tried to stop his daughter and threw a huge stone after her. Since that time, it has stood in line. There is an opinion that if it is removed, Baikal will flood everything around.
Before it flows into the Yenisei, the Angara River flows through the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region. At first, it flows mainly to the north, then turns to the west (beyond Ust-Ilimsk). It flows into the Yenisei not far fromLesosibirsk.
The tributaries of the Angara: Oka, Irkut, Iya, Ilim, Taseeva. You can also take into account the Upper Angara, Barguzin, and Selenga that flow into Baikal.
Among the major cities on the coast, Angarsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye, Ust-Ilimsk, Bratsk, Boguchany and others should be noted.
The Angara River is characterized by significant elevation changes - up to three hundred and eighty meters. However, it is quite full-flowing from the very beginning. Thanks to this, it has a huge hydropower potential. For its implementation, the Angarsk cascade of stations was built: Ust-Ilimskaya, Bratskaya, Irkutskaya. The construction of the fourth station, the Boguchanskaya HPP, is nearing completion. The construction of the Nizhneangarsky cascade of power plants is also planned. Thus, the entire basin can become one cascade of power plants. In addition to electrical energy, the construction of stations will ensure the development of shipping along the entire length. It should be said that the reservoir from the Irkutsk power plant in the upper reaches stretches for fifty-five kilometers.
It should be said that after the construction of the Irkutsk station in the river, the water level rose significantly. In this connection, only the top remained of the Shaman-stone, the height of which is a meter and a half. At one time, a project to undermine the stone was seriously discussed. In this case, the water would freely go to the turbines from Baikal. However, the project was not carried out due to the fact that, according to environmentalists, this would entail a geological displacement due to the destruction of the stone.
It should also be said that the Angara River is characterized by relativelyunfavorable ecological situation. It sends a huge amount of wastewater. In terms of their number, the basin is second only to the Volga. Water quality after the first major city of Irkutsk is rated as moderate to very dirty.
