Siberia is a natural treasury of Russia, there is an endless taiga, the richest deposits of natural resources, the largest water arteries. The focus of this article is on the Vakh River, which is small by Siberian standards, especially when compared with the Ob and Yenisei, but this water source is an important part of the region’s ecological system.
General characteristics
Where is the Wah River located geographically? The answer is simple: you need to search for it on the map in the West Siberian Plain, closer to the center. It is even easier to find on the map, which shows the administrative division of the Russian Federation, the eastern part of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - this is its "small homeland."
Vakh has a length 4 times less than the Ob into which it flows, its length is 964 km. The area of the water basin is about 77 thousand km 2 . Scientists have identified a place where to look for its sources - this is the watershed of the Yenisei, the "native" Ob and the river with the ridiculous name Taz. Most of the channel lies in the swampy taiga, food is provided through precipitation, in winter the river is filled thanks to snow, in other periods due to rain.
Water "environment"
The Vakh River, as noted above, is a tributary of the largest Siberian artery - the Ob. But in turn, Vakh plays the role of "main" for many smaller rivers, and in its floodplain numerous swamps and lakes have found "shelter". This water source has many large and small tributaries.
The most significant are the right tributaries - Kulinigol (367 km), Kolikiegan (457 km), Sabun (328 km). The “largest” left tributary is Megtygegan (36 km). In the names of the rivers, the ethnic notes of the small nations that originally lived in these territories are clearly noticeable.
In the names of other tributaries of the Vakh, there is a “Russian trace” of pioneers who mastered new places, but retained their native place names, for example, the Savkinskaya River, Malaya and Bolshaya Zapornaya. Some of the names of the tributaries indicate their natural wealth - Okunevka, Ershovaya River, Kedrovaya.
Natural resources
The Vakh river has an asymmetric basin, it is wider in the right-bank part, there are moraine elevations, the height of which reaches 150-160 m, but the majority is low (the height barely reaches 80 m). It is composed of water-glacial and lake-river sedimentary rocks, mainly sand.
A river flows in the taiga zone, spruce, fir, cedar prevail along the banks, pine and birch forests can be found. Many of the forests grow on swampy soil. In some places, bogging reaches 50%, swamps are most often sphagnum, upland.
The valley has the appearance of a trapezoid, expanding from 0.5 km at the source to 8-10 km closer to the mouth. The slopes in some places resemble beautiful terraces, their height reaches 10-15 m, in the middle course - up to 40 m. The floodplain of the river is flooded almost completely during floods, this can last from several days to several weeks.
Type of water regime
The river Vakh (Nizhnevartovsk region) from the point of view of the water regime belongs to the West Siberian type. This means that its recharge is mainly due to snow (65%), then groundwater (30%), to a lesser extent - due to rain (only 5%).
The flood lasts a little less than 3 months, begins in April, the water rises very quickly, in 3-4 weeks - by 9 m. The most full-flowing Wach happens in June, then a slow decline begins. It is opened from ice in May, and freeze-up begins most often in October (the maximum duration of freeze-up on the river is 222 days).
Waha basin as a source of minerals
About this impassable river, much less would have been known if researchers had not discovered large oil deposits in its vicinity. From this moment begins the industrial development of land, the development and organization of the extraction of important minerals. Samotlor, Ininsky and Vakhsky (by the name of the river) are the most important oil fields.
The largest industrial center of the region is Nizhnevartovsk, the Vakh River is only 10 km from it (at the confluence with the Ob). But the infrastructure is developing not only in the vicinity of the city, but practically on the entire middle and lower reaches. There are places for filling the wells, technological settlements have been built, shift villages for temporary residence of workers and specialists are growing, pipelines have been laid.
Naturally, transport infrastructure is also developing, roads have been built, river shipping is developed, river transport reaches s. Korlik, high-speed vessels transport people and goods. Of particular importance is the bridge over the Vakh River, the construction of which was carried out in 2009-2014. It is part of the Northern latitudinal highway connecting Perm and Tomsk.
The builders of the bridge are proud to have commissioned it before the deadline, and the first cars passed much earlier than the grand opening was organized. Now it is much easier to get from Nizhnevartovsk to the village of Strezhevoy and the more distant large Siberian cities.
In connection with the development of new oil fields, the region will continue to develop. And here it is important to listen to the opinion of ecologists who propose to seek a balance between industrial development and the preservation of the natural wealth and beauty of the region.