Kacha River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Krutaya Kacha.

Wintering ducks on Kacha near the Krasnoyarsk central bazaar.

Kacha (Russian: Ка́ча) is a river in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The name derived from Izyr-Kichi — The Izyr People, the self-name of the Turkic people that inhabited the river valley and adjacent lands. The original river name in the language of Izyr-Kichi is Izyr-Su — The Izyr Water.

The length of Kacha is 103 km, the basin area is 1280 km². It has two sources called Gladkaya Kacha (Smooth Kacha) and Krutaya Kacha (Steep Kacha), both located on the low-mountainous range for about 35 km westward of Krasnoyarsk. Gladkaya Kacha is twice longer than Krutaya Kacha, it starts in the middle-mountainous area and has a deeper valley whilst Krutaya Kacha starts in the relatively flat and boggy area. Both of the streams flow from the range northward, cross the Trans-Siberian Railway and join together. Then the river turns eastward near the village of Pamyati 13 Bortsov and completes the half loop by turning back southwards to Yenisey. Kacha approaches Krasnoyarsk from north and goes straight through the city joining Yenisey in the Krasnoyarsk historical centre, Strelka.

Kacha has been long known for being the most polluted river of the Krasnoyarsk neighborhood, only in the middle of 2000s the situation was improved, at least in the Krasnoyarsk section of the river. The most serious pollution sources were several unfiltered sewage pipes and numerous solid wastes on the river banks. Currently, due to the administrative work of the mayor Pyotr Pimashkov, the most of the sources were removed and the river banks in the city center have been turned into an attractive recreational area.