Kuybyshev Reservoir

Kuybyshev Reservoir
near Ulyanovsk
Lake type Hydroelectric reservoir
Primary inflows Volga, Kama, Sviyaga, Kazanka, Bolshoy Cheremshan
Primary outflows Volga
Basin countries Russia
Max. length over 500 km
Max. width 35 km
Surface area 6,450 km²
Average depth 8 m
Max. depth 41 m
Water volume 57.3 km³
Shore length1 2604 km
Surface elevation 53 m (174 ft)
Islands Sviyazhsk
Settlements Kazan
Ulyanovsk
Tolyatti
Zelenodolsk
Volzhsk
Bolghar
Tetushi
Novoulyanovsk
Chistopol
Laishevo
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Kuybyshev Reservoir or Kuybyshevskoye Reservoir (Russian: Ку́йбышевское водохрани́лище, Kuybyshevskoye Vodokhranilishche, Tatar Cyrillic: Куйбышев сусаклагычы, Latin: Kuybışev susaqlağıçı), sometimes called Samara Reservoir and informally called Kuybyshev Sea, is a reservoir of the middle Volga and lower Kama in the Chuvash Republic, Mari El Republic, Republic of Tatarstan, Samara Oblast and Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. The Kuybyshev Reservoir has a surface area of 6,450 km² and a volume of 58 billion cubic meters. It is the largest reservoir in Europe and third in the world by surface area[1]. The major cities of Kazan, Ulyanovsk, and Tolyatti are adjacent to the reservoir.

The reservoir was created by the dam of Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station (formerly, V.I. Lenin Volga Hydroelectric Station), located between the cities of Zhigulevsk and Togliatti in Samara Oblast. It was filled in 1955–1957.

With the filling of the reservoir some villages and towns were rebuilt on higher ground. One district of Ulyanovsk is below water level and is protected from the reservoir by an embankment.

References

  1. ^ the largest and second largest are Lake Volta and Smallwood Reservoir