Where does the Kuban river flow? Kuban River: description

I would like to talk about such a beautiful natural water flow as the Kuban River. Description, photo and detailed characteristics - this is exactly the information that you will find in the article.

The beauty of this region is known far beyond the borders of Russia. Here, in Soviet times, a huge number of world-famous films were shot. The reason for this is the picturesque landscapes that are located along the entire coastline. Being in these places, people experience peace of mind and are charged with positive energy.

Geographical position

In the south of Russia, one of the largest water flows in the country, the Kuban River, flows. You can easily find it on the map. Geographically, it is located in the northern part of the Caucasus Mountains. Starting its movement from the Karachay-Cherkess Territory, the river flows through the territory of three regions: Stavropol, Adygea and Krasnodar.

The total area of the watercourse basin is almost 58,000 km². When the Kuban River (see description below) reaches the banks of Azov, it creates the largest delta in Russia. Its area is more than four thousand square meters.

The Kuban River: a description of the delta

The Kuban delta is wide, often with wetlands. But meanwhile it is unique in its kind. The fact is that in the south the delta goes out not only to the Azov, but also to the Black Sea. Numerous estuaries and lakes, islands, floodplains, channels with overgrown reeds and reeds are located on the territory of the delta. Local residents know that where the Kuban River is, you can always meet unique representatives of flora and fauna that amaze with their diversity.

Where the modern delta is now located, several thousand years ago there was the largest Gulf of Azov. However, as a result of the activity of the waters of Azov and Kuban, a bay-bar gradually formed at this place. The bay, as such, dried up, forming a shallow lagoon. And the Kuban River (this can be clearly seen on the map of that time) previously flowed into a water stream, which was called the Old Kuban. It was he who carried water to the Black Sea basin. However, already as a result of landslides (to protect nearby territories from floods), the flow was blocked. And now most of the water falls only into the Sea of Azov.

The source of the Kuban River: features

The Kuban begins its "life" in the place where two mountain streams converge - Uchkulan and Ullukai. The latter is often considered a continuation of the Kuban. Glaciers located on the top of Elbrus feed the stream with their melt waters. In this place, it is distinguished by a strong and turbulent current. The source of the Kuban River is located at an altitude of almost 1400 m above sea level.

It is worth paying attention to one feature. Many believe that it was from her that the name of the stream came from. The modern sound is rooted in and in literal translation means "a seething stream."

hydronym

The name Kuban is far from the only one near the river. She has about 300 of them! Other local names of the river are Qoban, Guban, Qobkhan and others. In ancient Greek chronicles, the name was listed as Hypanis.

Water flow features

The Kuban River is very interesting in terms of zoning. The description of its nature of the flow is quite diverse. For its length, the river is considered navigable, therefore it is favorably used for agricultural purposes. The high fall of the stream, more than 1,000 m, makes it possible to divide it into 4 zones: high-mountain, mountain, foothill and flat. Reaching the Krasnodar Territory, near the city of Ust-Labinsk, the Kuban has a navigable route. The main Verbenskoe Arm flows into the Temryuk Bay. One more thing - Cossack Erik has access to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. From this we can conclude that the Kuban River belongs to the Atlantic Ocean basin.

In high mountainous areas, the stream has a deep bottom and steep, steep slopes. The latter are represented by sandstones, shale, limestone accumulations. Going down to the lower reaches, the banks become low-lying and more gentle. Sometimes there are low hills. The channel meanders more and more often, closer to the delta, forming a kind of "horseshoes" - oxbow lakes.

tributaries

The Kuban is quite full-flowing, the total number of tributaries (small and large) reaches 14 thousand. The largest rivers flow into it mainly from the left bank.

The largest of them:

mountain river. Urup.
R. Laba is the most full-flowing tributary.
R. Belaya - a watercourse with the most powerful stream, has several waterfalls on its way.
R. Pshish and Psekups - are characterized by fast flow.
Kaverze and Afips.

Gorkaya, Dzheguta adjoin the right banks of the Kuban. The total length of the Kuban with its tributaries is 9,500 km.

Water consumption and type of food

The average annual runoff of the waters of the Kuban into the Sea of Azov is 14 cubic meters. km. In addition, the stream carries more than 4 million tons of salts into the sea. The nutrition near the Kuban is mixed - most, about 65%, are snow and rain, about 20% are glaciers and 15% are groundwater.

The flow is uneven. It is seasonal. At different times of the year, runoff indicators can vary greatly throughout the territory. Also, the Kuban has a certain "anomaly". At different time intervals, the river can carry 1.5 times more water than the average annual norms.

In the cold season, the Kuban freezes, but the ice cover of the river is unstable. It lasts from December to March, after which the icebreaker begins.

Kuban reservoir

The largest reservoir in the North Caucasus is located on the Kuban River and is called, respectively, the Kuban. Previously, Tshikskoye existed not far from it, but it was flooded several years ago. Now the reservoir is remarkable only as a place for fishing.

The Kuban stream is also used to generate electricity. 4 HPPs were built - Kurshavskaya, Barsuchkovskaya, Sengileevskaya and Zelenchukskaya. Together they form the so-called "Kuban cascade". The plans included the construction of the Adygei hydroelectric power station, but in recent years, work has been suspended.

Flora and fauna

The flora and fauna of the river is quite diverse. More than a hundred species of fish live in the waters. These are pike perch, silver carp, ram, carp, bream, catfish, goby, perch, rudd and others. Sea fish also swim in the low-lying areas of the river. Some of the species are unique to these areas. Plankton is represented by mollusks, worms, crustaceans and other species.

On the waters of the stream there are many such as wild geese and ducks, pelicans, herons, swans, as well as small birds. Rare predatory animals of the Kuban River live in the coastal zone. Their brightest representative is the gray peregrine falcon. Foxes, wild cats, wild boars, muskrats live in the floodplains.

The river delta is now slightly drained by man for the needs of agriculture. It also makes it possible to breed fish. In one of these branches, a mullet breeding farm is developing quite successfully.

The river is practically not used for tourism. Unless in mountainous areas they often carry out rafting on ships or rifts. But fishing is common on both banks in almost all areas.

The plants of the Kuban River are represented by the following species: reed, burr, sedge, etc. They are distributed mainly in the coastal area. The surface of the water of the stream in some places is strewn with water lilies, at the bottom you can find different types of algae. Such thickets have grown to 40-50 thousand hectares.

The Kuban River is an important source of fresh water in the very south of Russia, and its basin is a large industrial and agricultural region with a large population, rich history, unique climate and nature. For its well-being, it is necessary to take care of preserving the channel and the place where it starts from - the glaciers of the western part. No less important is the ecology of the area where it flows - its delta is actively used both for crop production and for growing fish.

The history of the development of the Kuban River

The Kuban River flows into two seas at once - the Black and Azov. In the 19th century, most of the runoff fell into the Kiziltash estuary and went to the Black Sea. Now, after draining the delta and strengthening the branches, almost all the water enters the Temryuk Bay of the Sea of Azov.

Few sources of water can compare with it in terms of the number of ancient names. If you count those that have survived to this day, it turns out that there are more than three hundred of them. What is the secret of such diversity? In the richest history of the region! People have lived here since time immemorial, one tribe replaced another, and each gave its name to the main waterway.

Neighbors also brought their contribution - every ancient chronicler distorted the name he heard from merchants or ambassadors in his own way. But it was they, the ancient Persians and Greeks, who left the first descriptions of the Kuban River.

Now historians find different toponyms among the Cimmerians and Scythians, Pechenegs and Polovtsians, Huns and Khazars, Greeks and Romans, Bulgars and Tatars, Turks and Genoese, Arabs and Persians, Slavs and. The latter dialects had more than all the above peoples combined, and each dialect had its own name.

The river gave its name to the whole region, as well as to one of the largest military estates in Russia, which settled on its banks - the Kuban Cossacks. It was formed in 1860 from others and settled in the Kuban region (as this region was called until 1918). In their folklore, this river occupies a lot of space; in their songs, they affectionately call it the mother river, Kubanushka.

Description: basin, tributaries where it flows

The channel of the river and its tributaries passes through several regions -, Krasnodar Territory and. This is the southernmost of the large Russian ones. The source of the Kuban River, if we count the tributary Ullukam, is located at the glacier of the same name at an altitude of 2970 meters above sea level.

This place is popular with climbers and with sufficient physical fitness, anyone can admire the thin stream that gives rise to a large and full-flowing river. This is a narrow but fast stream, winding between the stones down to the plain, collecting water from the same mountain streams along the way, and in the foothills gradually turning into a sedate wide flat river system, which, however, does not prevent it from remaining very winding.

On the plain, it continues to be replenished by tributaries from all around, expand, and in some places is hampered by reservoirs. It collects water from about 57.9 thousand square meters. km.

The length of the river is 870 km, if you count from the Ullukam glacier - 906 km. Width and depth vary considerably. It is widest in the lower reaches, where there are sections up to 210 meters. In the upper mountainous part it is shallow, and in the flat, closer to the floodplain, there are places up to 15 meters deep.

The regime of the river is also highly variable. The highest water level is in the middle of summer, the lowest is in February. At the same time, it freezes, but not every year, for a short time, and not along the entire channel. The bottom in the upper reaches is pebbles and stones, the banks are often steep. In the lower reaches, the bottom is clayey-sandy, and the shores are gently sloping.

An important feature of the Kuban River is its mouth, which consists of channels that are always ready to change direction, it includes wetlands, a lot of oxbow lakes, estuaries, eriks and lakes with islands and floodplains. These labyrinths are clearly visible in the photo of the Kuban River taken from space. The main branches, along which most of the flow goes into the sea, are Petrushkin sleeve and Kazachiy Erik. The area of the delta is about 4300 sq. km, that is, a quarter of the Volga, and this despite the fact that the average annual flow is 13.5 km3, that is, only 5% of the Volga.

Where is the best fishing in the Kuban

Fishing lovers will get a lot of pleasure while relaxing in these places. What kind of fish is found in the Kuban River? Much depends on where you decide to stay. Because in the upper reaches, river inhabitants predominate, who need clear, cold water for life, in the lower part of the river - those who prefer a weak current, whirlpools and backwaters, are not uncommon in the delta and.

At the very beginning of the Kuban River, where it is a fast mountain stream, trout and Caucasian chub are well caught, which are taken by fly fishing and spinning, and the Kuban barbel is also caught, for which bottom gear is needed. On the flat part of the Kuban basin, typical fish of the European part of Russia is well caught - bream, pike, roach, ide, crucian carp, perch, bersh, pike perch, ram, rudd, sabrefish, catfish, etc.

In the lower reaches they catch horse mackerel, pelengas, red mullet, Azov goby. On the video of fishing on the Kuban River, of which there are many published on the Internet, you can see that the lucky ones still come across remarkable specimens.

There are also several species from the sturgeon family here, unfortunately this “royal” fish has become a rarity, so its fishing is prohibited. In total, more than a hundred species of fish live in the Kuban with tributaries, there are also crayfish. The local branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, the Kuban Institute of Sturgeon Breeding and numerous fish farms are partially contributing to the restoration of the livestock of valuable species, but there is still a lot of work in this direction.

Ecology and economic use

The Kuban River is of great economic importance for the region. The main areas where it is impossible to overestimate its importance are agriculture, including fish farming, electricity supply, and industry. The largest reservoir, Krasnodarskoye, was built on it, which significantly changed the ecology of the region and helps regulate the water level in the river.

And it is not the only one - on the main channel and large tributaries, fresh water is saved in dozens of large and small reservoirs. From here it is regularly supplied for watering gardens and fields. Now, to save water, drip irrigation is being actively introduced, which will allow more economical use of this vital resource.

The largest reservoirs of the Kuban basin, in addition to the Krasnodar reservoir, are the Verkhovoe and Nizovoe Atakay reservoirs, Varnavinskoe, Kryukovskoe, Shapsugskoe and Neberdzhaevskoe reservoirs.

In electricity supply, the participation of the water artery is a cascade of hydroelectric power stations, consisting of nine hydroelectric power stations and one pumped storage station, and giving the region 620 MW. The construction of the cascade was started back in 1967, and immediately the project was tied not only to the supply of electricity, but also to the accumulation of water for the needs of the villagers, utilities and industrial enterprises.

The first hydroelectric power station, Svistukhinskaya, was built in 1943. Imagine, there is a war going on, there are still two years before the Victory, and the Soviet government is launching a large economic facility! And of such quality that he still continues to fully work. After the collapse of the 1990s, Russia returned to equally significant projects only in the 21st century.

River pollution

Unfortunately, the active economic use of the river system and serious climate changes in the current century have led to serious environmental problems. These are common problems for the main water arteries of the country - silting of the channel, flowering of reservoirs, insufficient number of treatment facilities.

All this is exacerbated by a hot climate and a large anthropogenic load. For example, where the Kuban River originates, tourism is now actively developing - skiers have chosen the slopes, climbers have chosen the rocks. In beautiful places in the upper reaches of mountain rivers, tributaries of the Kuban, tourist bases are being built.

In the plains, the river system suffers from the plowing of catchment areas and deforestation. But the Kuban River suffers the most from Krasnodar. These are outdated treatment plants, numerous enterprises whose effluents also raise questions, as well as a huge number of cars that get into frequent traffic jams on highways.

Also contributing to the pollution of the river basin - Karachaevsk, Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk, Armavir, Ust-Labinsk, Kropotkin, Adygeysk, Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Temryuk, etc.

The deteriorating ecological situation negatively affects the number of fish. This is a lack of water in natural spawning grounds, the ingress of oil products and heavy metals into the river and sea areas. Almost annual floods, flooding, landslides, river erosion are dangerous not only for people. With the washed soil, fertilizers and pesticides enter the water, poisoning the habitat of the river inhabitants.

Now they have finally begun to invest in the restoration of Russian rivers - in cleaning the channel, regulating the flow, repairing hydraulic structures. They did not ignore the Kuban river system. Programs are being launched to green the region, preserve and restore water protection zones and the coastal strip. This gives hope that the situation with reservoirs and water supply in the region will gradually stabilize.

Since ancient times, people settled near water - on the banks of rivers, seas, oceans. In the Krasnodar Territory, the most important water artery is the Kuban River.

However, this was far from the only name of the river. Scientists are hypothesizing where the river takes its name - Kuban, agree that this is a modified pronunciation of the Turkic name of the Kuman river (translated as "river"). Previously, she bore the name Gopanis (from the ancient Greek "violent, strong river"), Psyzh (from the Adyghe "ancient river", or "mother river").

More precisely, the places where it flows now are very interesting. Where the river delta is located, there used to be a bay. The bay was so large that it stretched from Taman to Krasnodar. Over time, due to various reasons, including tectonic and unusual mud volcanoes of the Taman Peninsula, the territory changed its landscape. And now, instead of a bay, a lagoon turned out, which was delimited by an isthmus of land. Then the land became more and more, river tributaries "ran". As a result, now we are observing the Kuban Delta on the site of the sea. And in the 19th century, the Kuban River flowed into the Kiziltashsky Black Sea estuary through the Old Kuban. Then the path for the river in this direction was blocked due to natural causes. In the 20th century, it was decided that this “river route” should be renewed. And not just like that, but to ensure the operation of a farm that breeds mullet fish. As decided - so they did.

- a "useful" river, since from a certain point it becomes a navigable river. On this river, people raft on catamarans and other water transport. You can also go rafting on the river. Then you will see various natural monuments, mountains on one side and steppes on the other. Or you can just go fishing on the river. It stands on the right bank of the Kuban, this city is a kind of border, if you cross the Kuban, you can find yourself in. And the Kuban River itself is a natural border. The right and left banks of the Kuban differ from each other in landscape and terrain. The Kuban flows not only on the land of the Krasnodar Territory. Although in this region it has a large length - 662 km, it also flows in the regions of Karachay-Cherkessia, the Stavropol Territory and Adygea.

If you want to trace where its sources are and where it then flows into, take a look at Mount Elbrus (the confluence of the Ullukam and Uchkulan mountain rivers) and the Sea of Azov. The length of the Kuban River reaches almost one hundred thousand kilometers, its area is about 46 thousand square meters. km. In its course, the river changes character. The most violent temper and fast current is in the upper part of the river, then it slows down its run, it becomes more and more calm. In order to tame the obstinate temper of the river, the Krasnodar reservoir was built. It is considered the largest in the entire North Caucasus. The Kuban has many right tributaries, there is a delta. It is not uncommon that this delta becomes swampy, which is why it is called the Kuban plavni. In general, this river cannot be called clean and transparent. The Kuban is a river with muddy water, but this does not make its role any less significant.

The Kuban is a very important river for the life of the inhabitants. Despite the fact that there are seas in the Kuban, it is impossible to do without fresh river water. On the banks of this river such cities as Karachaevsk, Ust-Dzheguta, Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk,

With a length of more than 870 (eight hundred and seventy) kilometers. The source of the Kuban River is located on the southwestern slopes of the majestic Elbrus, at an altitude of 1339 meters, where two mountain rivers Uchkulan and Ullukam merge.

The tributary of the Ullukam River is located at an altitude of 2970 m, comes from the Ullukam Glacier. The length of the river, together with the tributary, is 906 (nine hundred and six) kilometers.

Below Ukulan, the Kuban carries its seething streams along a narrow deep rocky gorge overgrown with pine forests. On the way there are rocky gates, suspension bridges. The violent nature of the river was eloquently described in the fifties of the last century by the writer Semyon Babaevsky (1909-2000) in his story “Girlhood of the Kuban”.

Kuban belongs to the Kuban Basin District. Along the way, the river crosses the cities of Karachay-Cherkessk, describes a large arc along the Stavropol Upland and for 662 (six hundred and sixty-two) kilometers along the Kuban-Azov lowland and Adygea.

The river network of the Kuban: 14,000 water inflows, 9482 km. In the flat part, the river is full-flowing and it is used for off-road vessels starting from the city of Ust-Labinsk. The mouth of the main channel is located in the Temryuk Bay.

Zelenchukskaya, Kurshavskaya, Barsuchkovskaya hydroelectric power stations with a capacity of 620 MW, the Krasnodar reservoir, with a volume of 567 million cubic meters, were built on the river.

In the river network, there are one hundred and six species of fish, such as fish, pike perch, four hundred species and forms of zooplankton (worm, crustacean, mollusk), near-water birds (cormorant, goose, duck, pelican), muskrat, wild boar are found in the floodplains.

Toponym

Many toponists: P. Kretschmer, V. A. Nikonov, L. G. Guliyev, E. M. Murzaev believe that the river has several origins of the name.

Antikines, ancient Greek. - sturgeon, sturgeon river. The first ancient name of the artery. Since ancient times, the floodplain of the Kuban River has supplied sturgeons to Greece and Rome.

Kuba, India-Iran. - tortuous. Indo-Iranian tribes lived in the Bronze Age in the Northern Black Sea region.

Hypanis, Greek - horse

Koban, Karach.-Balkar - literally furious, rushing - a synonymous name big, strong, violent (rushing like a horse);

Psyzh (dogs), ancient Adyghe / Kabardian-Circassian - water. The period of origin of this toponym dates back to 2000 BC. ;

Coffen, ancient Bulgarian - water, river. The name comes from the 1000th anniversary of BC. Over time, it was this name that was transformed into the modern Kuban.

In total, the Kuban River has more than 300 (tehsot) variations of its name.

Story

Several tens of thousands of years ago, on the site of the Kuban lowland, there was a huge Gulf of Azov, which stretched its shores from the Amani doi of Primorsko-Akhtarsk and even Krasnodar. A stormy mountain river carried silt, debris, stones into the bay. Gradually, a bridge was formed, which separated the bay from the main reservoir. A firth appeared. The sediments of the river and mud volcanoes gradually raised the land above the surface of the estuary, so the Kuban lowland was formed, flooded by the waters of the Kuban River during the flood period. The lowland consisted of freshwater limanchiki interconnected by canals, swampy floodplains.

In history, the river occupies an important place in Russian statehood. In 1792, Catherine II signed a decree on the development of lands lying between the right side of the Kuban and the Sea of Azov. In connection with the development of land, the Kuban delta at the confluence with the Black Sea was changed.

Irrigation facilities, drainage canals in the 19th century diverted the course of the Kuban River to Azov. And only recently the old path of the mountain beauty to the Black Sea basin was restored. Through the Black Sea channel, the waters of the Kuban River again enter the Kiziltash Estuary to supply fresh water to the mullet farm.

In 1973 - 1975, the Krasnodar reservoir was filled with the waters of the Kuban River, which absorbed the previously created Tshchik reservoir.

Technical reference (data from the State Water Register)

Water body code - 08010300412110000013247 Location - Karachaevsky district (source) - Stavropol Territory - Adygea - Krasnodar Territory (mouth) Length - 870 km, flows into the Temryuk Bay of the Sea of Azov Drainage area - 57900 sq. km. Belongs to the Kuban basin district. River basin - Kuban

Water management area:

06.02.00.001 - Kuban from the source to the city of Ust-Dzheguta;
06.02.00.004 - Kuban from the city of Ust-Dzheguta to the city of Nevinnomyssk, without the Bolshoy and Maly Zelenchuk rivers;
06.02.00.006 - Kuban from the city of Nevinnomyssk to the city of Armavir, without the Urup River;
02.06.00.010 - Kuban from the city of Armavir to the city of Ust-Labinsk, without the Laba River;
02.06.00.013 - Kuban from the city of Ust-Labinsk to the Krasnodar hydroelectric complex, without the Belaya and Pshish rivers
06.02.00.014 - Kuban from the Krasnodar hydroelectric complex to the confluence of the Afips river
06.02.00.016 - Kuban from the confluence of the Afips River to the Tikhovsky hydroelectric complex;
06.02.00.021 - Kuban from the Tikhovsky hydroelectric complex to the mouth and other rivers of the Sea of Azov basin in the delta of the Kuban River

KUBAN, a river in the European part of Russia, in Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, Adygea. It originates from the confluence of the Ullukam and Uchkulan mountain rivers at an altitude of 1340 m. The length is 870 km (from the source of the Ullukam River, which originates on the western slope of Elbrus, is 906 km), the basin area is 57.9 thousand km 2. It flows into the southeastern part of the Sea of Azov.

In the upper reaches (from the source to the city of Nevinnomyssk) it is characterized by significant slopes (up to 49‰) and flow velocities (up to 6 m/s). Up to the mouth of the Teberda River, it has a deep and narrow (from 0.2 to 2 km) valley, downstream it expands and reaches 6 km near the city of Cherkessk. Below Cherkessk, the channel often breaks into branches. In the upper reaches, the channel is pebble-boulder, replete with rifts and rapids. Its width varies from 6-20 m at the source to 130 m near the Degtyarevsky farm. In the middle reaches (up to the mouth of the Laba River) it crosses the Stavropol Upland, the Zakuban and Azov-Kuban plains. The slopes of the river decrease (average 6‰), the flow is more calm. Before the village, the Temizhbek valley is relatively wide, floodplain, with terraced slopes. Below, a left-bank floodplain up to 4 km wide appears (near Ust-Labinsk); the right slope of the valley is high and steep (up to 20-40 m), the left slope is gentle. The river is winding and meanders along the floodplain, forming oxbow lakes. The channel is sandy-pebbly, in some places - with a gravel-pebble and stony bed, replete with rifts, sometimes split into branches. The width of the channel is 110-160 m. In the lower reaches, the river is full of water; the valley expands considerably and becomes indistinct; the floodplain increases to 20 km near the village of Maryanskaya and narrows again to 2-4 km near the village of Varenikovskaya. The river bed is sandy and sandy-clayey, winding, fenced by riverbed ramparts, there are islands. The channel width is 160-200 m and more. Below the Tikhovsky farm, the Kuban delta begins (length 116 km, area 4300 km 2, length of the sea region 150 km) with large branches of the Kuban, Protoka and Kazachiy Erik, numerous reservoirs, floodplains and artificial channels. The main tributaries of the Kuban are Teberda, Small and Big Zelenchuk, Urup, Laba, Belaya, Pshish, Psekups and Afips (left). In total, there are 14.5 thousand watercourses, 1630 lakes, 467 glaciers in the river basin.

The Kuban belongs to the rivers with a long spring-summer flood (March - September) of mixed origin and rain floods of significant height throughout the year; floods are possible. Rainfall accounts for 38% of the annual runoff, groundwater - 36%, glacier-snow supply - 26%. After the construction of the Krasnodar and other hydroelectric facilities, the water regime of the lower reaches of the Kuban has changed, the shares of the spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons are 28, 31-40, 17-21 and 15-20%, respectively, the range of fluctuations in water levels in the river during the year on average - from 1.4 m in the upper reaches to 4.5 m in the lower. The average long-term water discharge varies from 76 m 3 /s in the upper reaches to 398 m 3 /s in the city of Krasnodar and 380 m 3 /s near the Tikhovsky farm. The average long-term runoff of suspended sediments and water turbidity in natural conditions near the Tikhovsky farm reached 8 million tons and 630 g/m 3, respectively, after the construction of the Krasnodar hydroelectric complex, they decreased to 1.4 million tons and 125 g/m 3 . Freeze is unstable. The period with ice phenomena in the upper reaches of the Kuban usually lasts from early December to mid-March (duration 75-85 days), in the lower reaches - from late December to late February (about 40 days). The total duration of freeze-up is 30-50 days.

The Kuban basin is the most important agricultural region. The flow of the river and its tributaries is regulated by 40 reservoirs with a volume of more than 0.001 km 3 (including the Krasnodar reservoir - a volume of 2.8 km 3, a length of 46 km, an area of 394 km 2), 9 large hydroelectric facilities. Above the city of Ust-Dzheguta, below the city of Nevinnomyssk, near the village of Fedorovskaya and the Tikhovsky farm, the Kuban is blocked by dams to supply water to the canals. The Nevinnomyssky Canal supplies water to the Yegorlyk River and a complex of reservoirs on the Western Manych River in the Don River Basin. Irrigation and irrigation systems have been created, mainly in the lower reaches and in the delta. Water intake for household needs is 10.8 km 3 /year, discharge of used water into the river network is 5.9 km 3 /year, including 0.7 km without treatment or insufficiently treated. Water quality varies from “moderately polluted” upstream to “polluted” and “dirty” downstream. The main pollutants are copper, zinc, iron, oil products, nitrite nitrogen, phenols. The hydropower resources of the Kuban basin are underused. Up to 90 species and subspecies of fish live in the lower reaches and delta; sturgeon, herring, mullet, eel, fish, shemaya, etc. come from the sea. It is navigable from the village of Voronezhskaya to the mouth. In the Kuban (downstream) - the large cities of Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk, Armavir, Novokubansk, Kropotkin, Ust-Labinsk, Krasnodar, Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Temryuk.

Lit .: Davydov L.K. Hydrography of the USSR. L., 1955. Part 2; Lurie P. M., Panov V. D., Tkachenko Yu. Yu. The Kuban River: hydrography and runoff regime. SPb., 2005.