The artificial reservoir created as a result of blocking the Alei River is called the Gilev reservoir.
In the immediate vicinity of the man-made sea, there are several settlements, such as Staroaleiskoye, Karbolikha and Gilevo, in honor of the latter the reservoir is named.
Need to create
The water massif, spread over the territories of the Loktevsky and Tretyakov regions, is the largest in the Altai Territory. The Gilevskoe reservoir appeared as a result of urgent need caused by several reasons. The first of these was the shortage of water in the Aley River basin. Here the population increased, especially in industrial Rubtsovsk. For employees of the industrial hub, multi-storey buildings were built, the last floors of which did not receive water at all in certain seasons. In addition, during the year, the flow of water in this river was extremely uneven: periodically it became shallow to the point that freezing of the channel was observed in winter and low, mostly rain, floods (0.2-1.0) in summer. In spring and autumn, lasting from 75 to 78 days(April-June), the flood reached from 137 cm near the village of Staroaleiskoye to 670 cm near Aleysk.
Choosing the reservoir
The shallowing of the Aley was facilitated by deforestation in the upper reaches of the river, the creation of vast arable areas in the floodplain, the already mentioned industrial growth and, as a result, population growth.
Water was also needed to irrigate the fields created in the vast expanses of the steppe. The Altai irrigation system, more than 50 kilometers long, had already been built, and it needed to be filled. Several options were considered to provide this region with water. So, it was proposed to use for this the waters of the Charysh River, also a left tributary of the Ob. The question of the use of groundwater was brought up, but these were more costly and risky projects than the creation of a reservoir. The decision was made in his favor, and design and survey work began in the 60s of the last century. Lengiprovodkhoz is in charge of them, the expedition is led by L. P. Mogulsky.
Specifications
Gilevo reservoir was formed as a result of the construction of a dam, for which a place was chosen 2 km higher than the village of Gilevo, because here a ridge approached the river, the continuation of which became an earthen dam 2760 meters long.
For strength, building materials were added to the local soil, which contained granite, loam and sand-granite mixture. A total of 3 million m3 was spent on the creation of the dam3soil, 54 thousand m3 concrete, 400 thousand m3 crushed stone and 460 thousand m3stone.
Reservoir works
In early 1971, the dam began to be filled. All preparatory work on the creation of the reservoir bowl was carried out on time. Troitsky village was demolished. 300 of its inhabitants were relocated to a new place with houses and outbuildings. In 1980, this hydroelectric complex was put into operation in the fall, and in the spring the Gilevskoye reservoir began to fill up. What is the size of this man-made sea? At the dam, the depth (with an average of 8 meters) reaches 21 m. With a width of 5 km, the basin stretches for 20 km. The area of the mirror is 65 square kilometers, and the volume of the reservoir is 0.47 km3. The Gilevskoe reservoir has such parameters. Altai Krai has benefited greatly from its introduction.
The role of storage is hard to overestimate
The flow of water in the river has become regulated, the areas of irrigated land and pastures (Pospelikhinsky, Rubtsovsky and Yegoryevsky districts) have grown significantly, the population and industry began to receive water in sufficient quantities. The climate has improved. In the Altai Territory there is a Liflyandsky reserve. A significant part of the water area of the Gilevsky reservoir in the southeastern part in the amount of 500 hectares is part of it.
The part of the reservoir adjacent to the hydraulic structure is called the pool. So, from the upstream to the downstream, the discharge at the Gilevsky reservoir looks like this. For passing water, there are such culverts,like spillways and spillways. The former are designed to drain excess water resulting from floods. The discharges of the Gilevsky reservoir can supply moisture to consumers, depending on the needs, from 5 to 160 cubic meters per second. In addition, they regulate the flow in the river. The Gilevskoye reservoir discharges water into the Alei River, thanks to the hydroelectric complex, can provide from 50 to 100 cubic meters per second in a constant mode. But in case of flooding, forced discharge up to 790 m3 per second was taken into account. This happens when all drain and discharge facilities are opened.
Fisheries
It should be noted that the life of the repository due to constant landslides, silting and debris is designed for only 77.5 years from the date of its commissioning. Nevertheless, in 2018, the Malaya Gilevskaya power plant will be built on the dam, which will provide electricity even to remote areas of the Altai Territory.
Gilevo reservoir is very rich in fish. Fishing in it is year-round (carp and silver carp), the main species here are roach and perch. But in sufficient quantities there are pike and ruff, silver and gold carp, ide and minnow. Work is constantly underway to acclimatize valuable fish species in the reservoir, such as buffalo, peled and pike perch. Previously, there was a large number of sterlet in the river, the population of which experts dream of restoring. Old-timers say that earlier this fish, which inhabited the flat part of the Alei basin, rose up to the villageStaroleisky.
