The artificial reservoir created as a result of the closure of the Alei River is called the Gilevskoye Reservoir.
In the immediate vicinity of the man-made sea, several settlements are located, such as Staroaleyskoye, Karbolikha and Gilevo, and the reservoir is named after the latter.
The need to create
The water massif, spread over the territories of the Loktevsky and Tretyakovsky districts, is the largest in the Altai Territory. Gilevskoe reservoir appeared as a result of urgent need, caused by several reasons. The first of these was water scarcity in the Alei river basin. Here the population has grown, especially in industrial Rubtsovsk. For employees of the industrial building, multi-storey buildings were built, on the last floors of which during certain seasons water did not flow at all. In addition, during the year, the flow of water in this river was extremely uneven: it periodically chalked up to the point that the channel freezed in winter and low, mainly rain, floods (0.2-1.0) in summer were observed. In spring and autumn, for a long time from 75 to 78 days (April-June), the flood reached from 137 cm near the village of Staroaleyskoye to 670 cm near Aleisk.
The choice in favor of the reservoir
Cutting down of the Aley was facilitated by deforestation in the upper river, the creation of vast arable land in the floodplain, the already mentioned industrial growth and, as a consequence, population growth.
Water was needed for irrigation of fields created on vast expanses of steppe. An Altai irrigation system with a length of more than 50 kilometers has already been built, and it needed to be filled. Several options were considered to provide this region with water. So, it was proposed to use for this water of the Charysh River, also a left tributary of the Ob. The question was raised about the use of groundwater, but these were the most expensive and risky projects than the creation of a reservoir. The decision was made in his favor, and design and survey work began in the 60s of the last century. The Lengiprovodkhoz is engaged in them, the expedition is led by L.P. Mogulsky.
Specifications
The Gilevskoe reservoir was formed as a result of the construction of a dam, for which a place was selected located 2 km above the village of Gilevo, because a ridge approached the river, an extension of which was an earth dam 2760 meters long.
For strength, building materials were added to the local soil in which granite, loam and sand-granite mixture were located. In total, 3 million m 3 of soil, 54 thousand m 3 of concrete, 400 thousand m 3 of crushed stone and 460 thousand m 3 of stone were used to create the dam.
Reservoir construction works
At the beginning of 1971, they started dumping the dam. All preparatory work to create the reservoir bowl was carried out on time. Troitsky village fell under the demolition. 300 of its inhabitants were relocated to a new place with houses and outbuildings. In 1980, this hydroelectric facility was commissioned in the fall, and in the spring the Gilevskoe reservoir began to fill up. What are the sizes of this man-made sea? At the dam, the depth (with an average of 8 meters) reaches 21 m. With a width of 5 km, the pool stretches for 20 km. The area of the mirror is 65 square kilometers, and the reservoir volume is 0.47 km 3 . These parameters are Gilevskoe reservoir. Altai Territory has greatly benefited from its input.
It is difficult to overestimate the role of storage
The flow of water in the river became regulated, the areas of irrigated land and pastures (Pospelikhinsky, Rubtsovsky and Yegoryevsky districts) increased significantly, the population and industry began to receive water in sufficient quantities. The climate has improved. In the Altai Territory there is the Livonia Reserve. A significant part of the water area of the Gilevsky reservoir in the southeastern part of 500 hectares is part of it.
The part of the reservoir adjacent to the hydraulic structure is called a pool. So, from the upper pool to the lower one, the discharge on the Gilevsky reservoir looks as follows. Culvert facilities such as spillways and gutters exist for water passage. The former are designed to drain excess water resulting from floods. The gutters of the Gilevsky reservoir can supply moisture to consumers depending on the needs of 5 to 160 cubic meters per second. In addition, they regulate river flow. The Gilevskoe reservoir, the discharge of water into the Alei River, thanks to the hydroelectric complex, can provide in a constant mode from 50 to 100 cubic meters per second. But in the event of a flood, forced discharge to 790 m 3 per second is taken into account. This happens when you open all the drain and waste facilities.
Fisheries
It should be noted that the life of the repository due to constant landslides of coasts, siltation and litter is designed for only 77.5 years from the date of its commissioning. Nevertheless, in 2018, the Malaya Gilevskaya Power Plant will be built on the dam, which will provide electricity to even remote areas of the Altai Territory.
Gilevskoe reservoir is very rich in fish. Fishing in it is year-round (common carp and silver carp), the main species here are roach and perch. But in sufficient quantities there are pike and ruff, silver and gold crucian carp, ide and minnow. Acclimatization of valuable fish species such as buffalo, peled and pike perch is constantly being carried out in the reservoir. Previously, a large number of sterlet was found in the river, the population of which experts dream to restore. Old-timers say that earlier this fish, which inhabited the plain part of the Aley basin, rose up to the village of Staroleysky.