A very remarkable body of water is located a little south of the city of Novosibirsk. This is an artificial reservoir. It was formed in the late fifties of the last century, as a result of the construction of the Ob hydroelectric dam. But today it is already difficult to imagine this region of Western Siberia without the Ob Sea, which has become familiar to everyone, despite the fact that the need for its creation is still questioned by many authoritative experts.
Ob reservoir
Its length along the Ob from south to north exceeds 220 kilometers. At its southern end it reaches the city of Kamen-na-Obi. The Ob reservoir varies considerably in width over its length, from 2 to 23 kilometers. Its maximum depth in the fairway part of the channel reaches 25 meters. The Ob reservoir is navigable, the navigation period is limited by the warm season of the year. In winter, it freezes, the thickness of the ice is sufficient to create ice crossings for vehicles. The Ob reservoir has significant hydropower potential. Its volume ensures the stable operation of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station and the uninterrupted supply of water resources to the millionth city of Novosibirsk with the nearest andoutlying areas.
But its creation caused significant damage to the ecology and culture of the region, which led to a memorable discussion in scientific and public circles at the end of the last century about the advisability of building dams on lowland rivers. Such hydraulic structures irreparably violate the ecological natural balance and destroy the traditional way of life of many people who have settled along the banks of rivers since ancient times. So the Ob reservoir flooded large areas of floodplain agricultural land, forever buried at its bottom the historical part of the ancient Siberian city of Berdsk and many coastal villages where people have lived for centuries.
Today
The Ob Sea is actively used in the interests of coastal residents. The natural place of out-of-town recreation for the inhabitants of Novosibirsk is the Ob reservoir. Recreation centers on its coast have been created and successfully operated for a very long period of time. But many people prefer to stay in tents and make long trips across the reservoir on various light-engine and sailing boats. On the Ob Sea you can find a lot of interesting things. Its islands such as Elban, Kamenny, Khokhlov Borok, Khrenovy, Shlyapovsky, Sharapsky and Semizarodny are very popular with tourists.
Fishing in the Ob reservoir has its own characteristics, and they should be taken into account. Bream, pike perch, burbot, crucian carp, perch, pike andgrayling. You can also find valuable fish species, such as sterlet, sturgeon, whitefish and peled. But a certain part of the fish resources is infected with helminthic elements, in other words, with worms. And this fact should be taken into account in order to avoid trouble. This state of affairs is one of the consequences of the violation of the ecological balance and the flooding of coastal areas.
