The name of this picturesque river in translation from the Turkic language has the meaning - "river flowing between the hills." Cheptsa is a natural body of water flowing through the territories of the Perm Territory, Udmurtia and the Kirov Region of Russia. This is a tributary of the river. Vyatka, belonging to the basin of the great Volga.
The article provides some information about the Cheptsa River: where it flows, what are the features, hydrology, etc.
About the origin of the name
According to some information, the name Chepets arose after the appearance of the Old Russian population in the lower reaches of the river - at the end of the XII century.
In fact, there are many versions of the origin of such a watercourse name. Popular etymology connects the origin of such a hydronym with Catherine the Great, who allegedly dropped her cap into the river during the crossing through it. Researcher-historian Luppov PN suggested that the name of the Cheptsa River was brought to these places with Russian immigrants. It is "identical" with the name of the river that flows into the lake near the ancient principality of Belozersky. The name of Chepets is not explained in any way by the Finno-Ugric or Udmurt language.
The most probable version is that the name came from the ancient Russian language, from the root “flail” (chain, chain,), which has the meaning of “split, cling, split”, and has passed into the dialectic “chep”. As a result, the word “cap” was formed using the suffix “tsa”. Probably in ancient times the mouth of the river was really “split”, as preserved old women testify today.
River description
The length of the river is 501 km, the pool has an area of almost 20, 400 square meters. km The source of the Cheptsa River is located on the slopes of the Verkhnekamsk Upland, and flows into the Vyatka in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk, being in all respects its largest tributary. The main tributaries of Cap: Vine, Scythe, Priest, Lekma, and Depart. The pool has more than 500 lakes with a total area of 26.6 square meters. kilometers.
The river in the lower reaches Vyatka Uval. Most of the basin is flat. Ravine and slope erosion are quite developed. The composition of the vegetation cover is dominated by taiga dark coniferous plants. Forests occupy more than 46% of the basin.
The riverbed is meandering. The banks of the bends, concave in shape, erode at a speed of about 50 meters per year. The width of the channel is 30–40 meters, the depth at the low-water level is approximately 2 meters.
Administratively, the river begins near the village of Ignatievo in the Perm region, and then it takes the direction to the north-west. Then, in Udmurtia, the Cheptsa River flows through the northern part of the republic. The lower course belongs to the Kirov region, where the mouth of the watercourse is located.
Nature of the current
Characteristic of the Cheptsa River are rather sharp changes in the direction of the current and a large tortuosity over almost the entire length. Due to the presence of a flat relief, the watercourse for the most part flows along a vast valley with gentle slopes.
In the lower reaches, narrowed and widened sections alternate at intervals of 1-5 km. There are many rifts on the river.
Settlements
On the banks of the Cheptsa River there are numerous rural and township settlements: Debesy, Malaya Cheptsa, Varni, Ozone, Gordyar, Cheptsa, Kamenny Zadelye, Balezino, Dizmino, Ust-Lekma, Yar, Yelovo, Bobyl, Kosino, Zyryanovo, Kordyaga, Chepetskiy, Wolf, Ryakhi, Krivobor, Nizovtsy, Unity, Health Resort, Ilyinsky.
Located on the banks of the city - Glazov (Udmurtia) and Kirovo-Chepetsk in the Kirov region.
Hydrology
The long-term average water discharge in the lower reaches of the Cheptsa River is 124 cubic meters. meters per second. Food is mostly snowy. The water regime belongs to the Eastern European type with spring flood, as well as winter, summer and autumn low water. The volume of maximum water flow is 2720 cubic meters. meters per second. The river freezes in November; the opening period is April-May.
Water in its chemical composition belongs to the calcium group and the hydrocarbon class. Its quality is more dependent on the flow of agricultural and municipal wastewater.
