Baksan (river)

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Baksan
Баксан
The Baksan near the village of Terskol

The Baksan near the village of Terskol

Data
Water code RU07020000712108200004482
location Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia)
River system Terek
Drain over Malka  → Terek  → Caspian Sea
source Asau Glacier on the southern slope of Elbrus
43 ° 16 ′ 23 ″  N , 42 ° 26 ′ 41 ″  E
Source height approx.  2800  m
muzzle to Malka near Prochladny Coordinates: 43 ° 43 '49 "  N , 44 ° 3' 45"  E 43 ° 43 '49 "  N , 44 ° 3' 45"  E
Mouth height approx.  180  m
Height difference approx. 2620 m
Bottom slope approx. 15 ‰
length 173 km
Catchment area 6800 km²
Left tributaries Gundelen
Right tributaries Tschegem , Tscherek
Medium-sized cities Tyrnyaus , Baksan , Prochladny

The Baksan ( Russian Бакса́н , Karachay-Balkar Басхан ) is a 173 km long right tributary of the Malka in the North Caucasian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in Russia .

course

The Baksan flows from the Great Asau Glacier on the southern slope of the Elbrus at an altitude of about 2800  m . It flows around the mountain massif on the southeast side and then turns in northeastern directions. First it flows through a narrow part of the mountain, breaks through the Skalisty ridge ("rock ridge") of the Great Caucasus and reaches the plain above the city named after him, Baksan , where it branches into several arms (the most important, besides the main arm, are Baksanjonok and Geduko) . After another 50 km in an easterly direction, the Baksan flows into the Terek tributary Malka on the southeastern outskirts of Prochladny . At the confluence, the Baksan is significantly richer in water than the Malka (on average by more than five times).

The catchment area of ​​the Baksan covers 6800 km². The most important tributaries are Tschegem and Tscherek from the right and the Gundelen from the left.

Use and infrastructure

The Baksan is not navigable. Its water is used on the lower reaches to irrigate agricultural areas. For this purpose, water is diverted from the Baksan towards the Malka via the Baksan-Malka Canal .

In the city of Baksan there is a small hydropower plant on the river , the Baksan hydropower plant (Baksanskaja GES) with an output of initially 25  megawatts , now 27 MW. It was built between 1930 and 1939 and is one of the oldest in Russia. After destruction in the Second World War , full operations were resumed in 1946. Since part of the technology has been in operation since the power plant was built, the current operator, the Kabardino-Balkarian branch of RusHydro , has been working on its reconstruction since 2007. The work was thrown back by a terrorist attack, which in July 2010 caused considerable damage to the plant. In December 2012 the power plant could be put back into operation.

In the town of Baksan, the M29 highway from Rostov-on-Don to the Azerbaijani border crosses the river; there the A158 branches off to the ski and alpine center below the Elbrus, which follows the river upwards to almost its source and crosses it several times.

Web links

Commons : Baksan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Article Baksan in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D90731~2a%3DBaksan~2b%3DBaksan
  2. Baksan in the State Water Register of the Russian Federation (Russian)
  3. Article Malka in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D73089~2a%3DMalka~2b%3DMalka
  4. Baksan hydropower plant on the RusHydro website (Russian), accessed February 4, 2013