Reservoirs of Crimea: history, description and location

Have you ever thought about where water comes from in our taps, through which pipes it flows, where it comes from, especially in rather arid regions?

Each city and different territories have their own reservoirs, of different sizes and filling volumes. To some extent, it is a reservoir of water that people consume on a daily basis.

The number of reservoirs directly depends on the territory, population and consumption level.

The Crimean Peninsula with its arid northern and central parts consumes much more water than the same south.

How many water reservoirs are there in Crimea? Their number and history will be described later in the article.

Throughout the history of its existence, the Crimean peninsula has acquired 23 large reservoirs, which were created by man.

The total area of ​​all storage facilities is only 42 square kilometers, which is no more than 0.20% of the entire territory of the peninsula.

It follows that the amount of fresh water contained in the reserve is about 400-450 million cubic meters.

Not all the amount of water that is stored in reserves goes to the needs of a person in his daily life. Consumption is divided into the following items:

• up to 2% goes to fisheries;
• up to 8% - for enterprises and industry;
• up to 20% - for settlements and for housing and communal services;
• and up to 70% - for agriculture.

From the largest to the smallest, the reservoirs are lined up as follows.

• Chernorechenskoe - contains about 64.2 million m3 of water.It is considered the largest reservoir in Crimea.
• Second place goes to Mezhgornoye... It holds 50 million m3.
• Simferopol ranks third with 36 million m3.
• Frontline follows Simferopol with a reserve of 35 million m3.
• Partizanskoe holds 34.4.
• Zagorskoe – 27,7.
• Kerch – 24,0.
• Belogorodskoe – 23,2.
• And the two smallest in volume: Feodosia - 15.4 million m3 and Izobilnenskoe - 13.3 million m3.

There are also such reservoirs as Novoulyanovskoye, Mogabinskoye, Samarli (or Samarlinskoye reservoir), Kutuzovskoye, Zagorskoye, Stantsionnoye, Schastlivenskoye, Alminskoye. But in more detail we will consider only those that are most in demand among fishing enthusiasts, tourists and connoisseurs of history.

There are very few really large lakes on the territory of Crimea. Therefore, the Mezhgornoye reservoir - a kind of oasis that gathers around people who love wildlife, water landscapes and, most importantly, camping.

It is believed that this storage is one of the largest artificial reservoirs on the entire peninsula. And this is really so, its capacity is 50 million m3. It amazes with its depth and coastline.

In 1977, the construction of the second stage of the North Crimean Canal was conceived, but the plan was not implemented, and as a result, only one structure was implemented, which, after ten years of construction from 1981 to 1991, turned into the Mezhgornoye storage facility.

Large-scale interference with the natural landscape has had a profound effect on the nearby small salt lakes. The brine contained in the lakes became not so concentrated, but due to the fact that the resulting reservoir solved the big problems with water in the Crimea, it hid all the resulting defects.

This reservoir is located not far from Simferopol, near the village of Skvortsovo. You will have to go along the Simferopol - Evpatoria highway. Having reached the village of Skvortsovo and from it to the south-west, you can see a dirt road that leads right up to the lake itself.

Sevastopol owes its water supply to the Chernorechensky reservoir. This becomes clear if you look into the history books and delve a little deeper into this topic.

As mentioned earlier, Crimea suffered greatly from a lack of water resources. Sevastopol was no exception. Throughout its existence, the city was in dire need of water. And until the middle of the last century, this issue was almost impossible to solve.

But Soviet scientists from 1938 to 1940 carried out on the territory of Sevastopol, namely on the Chernaya River, studies about whether it is possible to make a reservoir out of this river. And the result was positive.

But because of the war, this plan was carried out only in 1956, since they could return to the storage issue only in the spring of 1949.

During this time, a large and powerful dam up to 28 m high was built, which absorbed up to 33 million m3 of water. After 20 years, they decided to reconstruct the dam, and it grew by another 8 m, and in total its height began to reach 36 m.

The total area of ​​the reservoir is 6 square km, the depth is shallow - about 32 m.

But the peculiarity of this reservoir is that in during the summer period, especially during the tourist season, the water level in the storage facility always drops to a low critical level.

The storage facility is located in the southeast of Sevastopol, in the Balaklava region. The dam and the reservoir itself are surrounded on all sides by settlements.

The Balanovskoe reservoir is completely artificial. It is located at the foot of the Crimean Mountains, south of the village of Zuya, in the Belogorsk region.

The best way to get there is by car, comfortably and conveniently.

Will have to go along the P-23 highway towards Feodosia, it is only an hour from Simferopol to the storage facility.

The reservoir is located near the village of Balanov; also nearby are such villages as Petrovo, Kurortnoye.

The Zagorsk reservoir is a closed area for tourists and fishermen.

There are checkpoints and barriers around the storage facility. In the reservoir itself, it is forbidden to swim and fish, litter or enter the area by car (for this you will have to issue a special pass). But if you are a hiker or biking in the mountains, you can bypass the checkpoint.

To get to the storage, you first have to drive to the city of Bakhchisarai, then take a bus to the village of Sinapnoe. From the village itself to the barrier, you have to go on foot.

The most popular destination among tourists. Excursions are possible, both group and individual. On such excursions, the guide will tell you a detailed story about the reservoir, the springs and the Ayan River.

You can get there on your own. A trolleybus runs from Simferopol to the village of Perevalnoye.

You can also take a regular bus to the village of Zarechnoye. Well, then - with the help of maps, you can also ask for help from local residents.

By car, you will need to build a route according to the map Simferopol - Alushta, to the village of Zarechnoye. And then walk to the place on foot.

For a video review of the Crimean reservoirs, see the next video.