The left-bank sleeve of the Amur was given the name Evenki. They named it the Zeya River (in their language the name sounds like “jae”, but “blade” is translated). This is the third largest tributary of the Amur. It flows through the territory of the Amur Region, covering more than half of its open spaces. The river flows into the Amur basin near Blagoveshchensk.
Hydropower plants were built on the coasts of the Amur tributary, three cities and a nature reserve were founded. Over the banks of the river rises Zeya, Blagoveshchensk and Svobodny. Zeya Nature Reserve captured part of the territory in the upper reaches, spread over an area of over 830 km². The construction of the Zeya hydroelectric station solved the problem of catastrophic floods that occur during summer floods.
Description
The length of the river is 1242 kilometers. The pool covers an area of 233, 000 km². The source of the river is in the Tokinsky Stanovik mountain range, stretching south of the Stanovoi Range. The short section in the upper reaches is mountainous, rapids and ragged. Zeya is strewn with sand and gravel rifts. The river valley here is clamped by steep mountain cliffs.
Where Zeya intersects the Tukuringra massif, its waters boil through a bottomless rocky gorge. Its lower course runs along the plain, where the valley was wide, and the channel was divided into many tributaries. Zeya coils among vast meadows dotted with many lakes and overgrown with willow bushes.
She is navigable. Ships plow a 650-kilometer waterway. Having begun at the mouth of the Zeya River, it reaches to the city of the same name. Before the appearance of the hydroelectric power station in a period of high water, ships rose to the village of Bomnak, which is above the city of Zeya.
Shipping is complicated by many shallow rifts that have streaked the riverbed. Shipbreaking facilities are not built into the dam. Vessels ply the upper and lower pools.
Hydrology
Zeya is fed by rains, snow and underground springs. The main power source is rains. They make up 50-70% of the total annual runoff. The share of snow nutrition does not exceed 10-20%, and underground - 10-30%. The river is characterized by high water content. Its catchment is formed from almost 20, 000 lakes. Their total area exceeds 1000 km 2.
The river water regime is characterized by summer floods resulting from torrential rains, and a distinct spring flood. Severe flood lasts 3-4 weeks. Floods and floods become the culprits of powerful floods leading to natural disasters. In winter, the Zeya River with a pool that spreads over the lands covered by permafrost is very shallow.
Until the Zeya hydroelectric station was erected, the water level was in the amplitude of fluctuations of 9-10 meters. The maximum depth of Zeya was noted in the area of the hydroelectric station, it reaches 64 meters. Its greatest width is equated to four kilometers.
Flora
The upper reaches of the river, where all kinds of estuaries, rapids and waterfalls are found in abundance, is surrounded by the Zeya Nature Reserve. It settled about 637 plant species. The coasts are drawn in by various representatives of the plant kingdom.
Here, the thickets of Mongolian oak, Amur linden and berry apple tree catch the eye. Variegated hazel and Japanese elm are surrounded by the Zeya River. The Amur Region in its area has become the abode for Siberian mountain ash, brownish willow, cedar dwarf pine and cloudberries.
The valleys in this area are decorated with birch groves. In the direction of the Tukuringra ridge, deciduous thickets, thinning, give way to the dark conifers that formed the ayan spruce. In the floodplain, the Zeya River, whose photos are amazing, is buried in vast meadows with swamps.
Fauna
The animals that inhabit the river coasts belong to a cohort of typical taiga inhabitants. River valleys sheltered Manchurian deer and Ussuri moose. They became a wonderful abode for roe deer and wild boars. Representatives of the marten family are widespread here. The most striking inhabitants of these predators in the taiga forests are sable and ermine.
The natives of the region are brown bears, wolves, wolverines, raccoon dogs, columns and otters. In these places, the fauna of birds is represented by a detachment of chicken. The picturesque river Zeya is densely populated by hazel grouse, partridge and stone grouse. Grouse live in the upper reaches, unfortunately, their population is too small.
Ichthyofauna
Zeya is a paradise for avid fishermen. The local waters are inhabited by galans, Amur gudgeons, graylings, pikes, whitefish, taimen, mustachioed char, sculpin, Vladislav, and other river inhabitants. Fishermen are not surprised at catching huge taimen - real giants. For them, the usual thing is to fish out a fish weighing 30-50 kilograms. Fans of fishing give river waters grayling weighing one and a half, and laziness - three to four kilograms.
The construction of a hydropower plant led to a sharp decline in stocks of several fish species of the Zeya River. The population of whitefish, taimen and asp was reduced. But the number of ghalyans, chebakov, firebrands and minnows has significantly increased.
