Despite the fact that there are native Bashkir territories around, Lake Elovoe (Chelyabinsk region) has a Russian name. Moreover, this is the only reservoir in the vicinity, since others have Finno-Ugric and Turkic names. The lake is located between the cities of Miass and Chebarkul. Spruce is a freshwater reservoir and is a hydrological monument. The reservoir is located among the Ural Mountains at an altitude of 322 meters above sea level. The lake is round in shape, its area is 3.2 km2. In length - more than 2 kilometers, in width - less than 2. The length of the coastline is about 10 kilometers. The greatest depth is 13 meters, with an average of 8. The water transparency parameter is 4 meters. The liquid volume is more than 26 million square meters.
Water regime of Lake Spruce
Lake Spruce has a mixed water supply: underground springs, springs, precipitation and snowmelt. The Gudkovka River flows into the reservoir, and the Elovka River flows out. Spruce is included in the chain of mountain lakes: Big Miassovo, Terenkul, Small Miassovo, Chebarkul, Small Kisegach, Big Elanchik and Big Kisegach. The shores of the reservoir for the mostbroken parts. Despite its small size, the lake has 3 islands: one large one - 15 hectares (this is the largest island in the Chelyabinsk region), and two small ones - 1 ha each. Depending on the weather conditions of the year, freeze-up occurs from late October to late November, and ice drift occurs from mid-April to mid-May. The Elovka River flowing from the reservoir connects it with Lake Chebarkul. Spruce is a cozy, quiet and calm lake. However, in bad weather, the waves can rise up to 1 meter. True, this rarely happens. The lake is superbly sheltered from the winds of all directions and warms up well. This fact determines the long duration of the swimming season.
Fishing on Lake Spruce
Lake Spruce is attractive not only for local fishermen. Lovers from all over Russia come here to fish. In the reservoir live: pike, ripus, crucian carp, chebak, ide, tench, bream, ruff, perch and burbot. The basic maintenance of fish resources is natural spawning. Industrial fishing is not carried out here. In shallow water, you can catch only small chebak and perch. And larger fish are caught from boats throughout the lake. As a rule, they use mugs, zherlitsy (live bait tackle) and spinning. From winter fishing, craftsmen bring small ruff, perch and chebak. In recent years, the number of fish has increased significantly, which indicates an increasing concentration of nutrients that are their food.
Recreation centers and sanatoriums on Spruce Lake
Lake Spruce is one of the most attractiveplaces in the South Urals. It has a stable ecosystem and has retained its structure for more than a century. Even transparency has not changed since 1969 (the moment of accepting the status of a monument), although in neighboring reservoirs it has decreased by an order of magnitude. Rest on Spruce Lake involves two forms: "savage" and tour. The first implies the presence of a tent and other tourist equipment. Few institutions, due to their small size, have Lake Spruce: the base "Rodnichok", the base "Ural Dawns", the cottage "Spruce", the sanatoriums "Spruce", "Pine Hill" and UralVO. All recreation areas have their own beaches and good entry into the water, sports and playgrounds, a set of watercraft for skiing and fishing, forest walks and excursions are expected. Any recreation center (Elovoe Lake) has a full range of entertainment for children: from playrooms to competent animators. Everyone will spend their leisure time the way they want.
Hydrological Monument
Lake Spruce has a tectonic origin, as evidenced by its rounded shape. Now a pine-birch forest is growing along the banks. Before the tectonic shift, as a result of which the reservoir was formed, there were relic forests here. They survived until the middle of the 19th century, judging by the maps and written sources of that time. Currently, the fir trees, after which the lake is named, cannot be found here. Although at the beginning of the 20th century, according to the notes of local historian Vladimir Sementovsky, both spruce and fir forests were found here. The water in the lake is soft, mineralization varies from 161 to 340 mg/liter depending on the season. She isbelongs to the hydrocarbonate class, in the transition from soda to sodium sulfate type.
The Mystery of Lake Spruce
All nearby water bodies bloom almost all summer, but Spruce Lake remains clean. At the same time, the concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds is quite high - up to 10 times higher than the "bloom" threshold. And the reservoir, even in the midst of the growing season of blue-green and green algae, reaches only the initial stage of the process. Scientists suggest the presence of a powerful bloom inhibitor, which may be manganese, which is present in large quantities in water. It is he who can act as a suppressor of the rapid development of phytoplankton.
Ecology
Lake Spruce, in spite of everything, still retains its natural parameters. However, the level of atrophy is still growing from year to year, as the load on the reservoir increases, especially in the summer (up to 70 thousand tourists come here annually). Riding on motorized boats significantly worsens the ecological situation on the lake, since oil products are dumped. Their impact affects the condition of fish and vegetation, both aquatic and terrestrial. The number of primitive organisms that filter water has also fallen. There is a threat of pollution of the lake with algotoxins, which adversely affect living beings. All the circumstances together can lead to a deterioration in water quality.
