Siberia is the natural treasury of Russia, here is the endless taiga, the richest deposits of natural resources, the largest water arteries. The focus of this article is the Vakh River, which is small by Siberian standards, especially when compared with the Ob and Yenisei, but this water source is an important part of the region's ecological system.
General Features
Where is the Vah River geographically located? The answer is simple: you need to look for it on the map on the territory of the West Siberian Plain, closer to the center. It is even easier to find on a map showing the administrative division of the Russian Federation that the eastern part of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug is its “small homeland”.
Vakh has a length 4 times less than the Ob, into which it flows, its length is 964 km. The area of the water basin is about 77 thousand km2. Scientists have determined the place where one should look for its origins - this is the watershed of the Yenisei, the "native" Ob and the river with the funny name Taz. Most of the channel lies in the swampy taiga,food is provided by precipitation, in winter the river is filled due to snow, in other periods - due to rain.
Water "environment"
The Vakh River, as noted above, is a tributary of the largest Siberian artery - the Ob. But in turn, the Vakh plays the role of the “main” for many smaller rivulets, and numerous swamps and lakes have found a “shelter” in its floodplain. This water source has many large and small tributaries.
The right tributaries are considered the most significant - Kulynigol (367 km), Kolikyegan (457 km), Sabun (328 km). The “largest” left tributary is the Megtygyegan (36 km). In the names of the rivers, the ethnic notes of the small peoples who originally lived in these territories are clearly visible.
In the names of other tributaries of the Vakh, there is a “Russian trace” of pioneers who explored new places, but retained their native toponyms, for example, Savkinskaya Rechka, Malaya and Bolshaya Zapornaya. Part of the names of the tributaries indicate their natural we alth - Okunevka, Ershovaya Rechka, Kedrovaya.
Natural we alth
The Vakh River has an asymmetric basin, it is wider in the right bank part, there are moraine hills, the height of which reaches 150-160 m, but most of it is low (the height barely reaches 80 m). It is composed of water-glacial and lacustrine-river sedimentary rocks, mainly sands.
The river flows in the taiga zone, spruces, firs, cedars predominate along the banks, pines and birch forests can be found. Many of the woodlandsgrow in swampy soil. In some places, swampiness reaches 50%, swamps are most often sphagnum, raised.
The valley looks like a trapezoid, expanding from 0.5 km at the headwaters to 8-10 km closer to the mouth. The slopes in some places resemble beautiful terraces, their height reaches 10-15 m, in the middle reaches up to 40 m.
Water regime type
The Vakh River (Nizhnevartovsky District) in terms of water regime belongs to the West Siberian type. This means that it is recharged mainly by snow (65%), then groundwater (30%), and to a lesser extent by rain (only 5%).
The flood lasts a little less than 3 months, starts in April, the water rises very quickly, by 9 m in 3-4 weeks. The most full-flowing Vakh occurs in June, then a slow decline begins. It breaks up from ice in May, and freeze-up begins most often in October (the maximum duration of freeze-up on the river is 222 days).
Wakha Basin as a source of minerals
Much less would have been known about this impassable river if researchers had not discovered large oil deposits in its vicinity. From this moment begins the industrial development of land, the development and organization of the extraction of an important mineral. Samotlor, Ininskoe and Vakhskoe (after the name of the river) are the most important oil fields.
The largest industrial centerregion - Nizhnevartovsk, the Vakh River is located only 10 km from it (at the confluence with the Ob). But the infrastructure is developing not only in the vicinity of the city, but in almost the entire middle and lower reaches. There are places for filling wells, technological camps have been built, shift camps for temporary residence of workers and specialists are growing, pipelines have been laid.
Naturally, the transport infrastructure is also developing, roads have been built, river navigation has been developed, river transport reaches the village. Korliks, high-speed vessels transport people and goods. Of particular importance is the bridge over the Vakh River, which was built in 2009-2014. It is part of the Northern Latitudinal Railway connecting Perm and Tomsk.
The builders of the bridge are proud to have completed it ahead of schedule, and the first vehicles passed long before the grand opening was scheduled. Now it is much easier to get from Nizhnevartovsk to the settlement of Strezhevoy and more remote large Siberian cities.
In connection with the development of new oil fields, the region will continue to develop. And here it is important to listen to the opinion of environmentalists who propose to seek a balance between industrial development and the preservation of the natural resources and beauty of the region.
