Yauza (river)

Coordinates: 55°44′50″N 37°38′25″E / 55.74722°N 37.64028°E / 55.74722; 37.64028
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Yauza River
)
This article is about the river in Moscow. There are three other Yauza rivers in Central Russia: tributaries of the
Gzhat
and Sestra.
Yauza
The lower Yauza, less than one kilometer from the inlet
Location
CountryRussia
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationLosiny Ostrov
 • coordinates55°52′40″N 37°53′19″E / 55.87778°N 37.88861°E / 55.87778; 37.88861
Mouth 
 • location
Moskva
 • coordinates
55°44′50″N 37°38′25″E / 55.74722°N 37.64028°E / 55.74722; 37.64028
Length48 km (30 mi)
Basin size452 km2 (175 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average9.4 m3/s (330 cu ft/s)
Basin features
ProgressionMoskva→ Oka→ Volga→ Caspian Sea

The Yauza (

MKAD beltway in the north to the Moscow-Yaroslavl railway west of Sokolniki Park, are protected as natural reserves.[1]

The Yauza has been mentioned in Russian chronicles since 1156;

Catherine II.[4] Settlements along the Yauza (German Quarter, Lefortovo, Preobrazhenskoye
) played a significant role in the history of Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries made the Yauza "the biggest gutter for waste in Moscow".

Central Administrative District remains the main source of pollution.[9]

Geology

The Yauza is arguably one of the most ancient European rivers. A proto-Yauza River first appeared in Permian-Triassic period, at which time it flowed to the east of its present riverbed, down today's Izmailovo Gully. After being periodically submerged during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the region finally became land in the Tertiary period. Due to minor elevation changes, the Yauza diverted into its present course, with its former riverbed taken over by the present-day Serebryanka, which forms part of Yauza basin and flows in the westward direction opposite to the original Yauza.[10]

Geography

The Yauza is 48 kilometres (30 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 452 square kilometres (175 sq mi).[11] It consists of three parts:

Losiny Ostrov (55°52′40″N 37°53′19″E / 55.87778°N 37.88861°E / 55.87778; 37.88861). The lakes surrounding the river (55°52′38″N 37°50′24″E / 55.87722°N 37.84000°E / 55.87722; 37.84000) were formed in the 20th century on abandoned peat-mining sites.[12] A 1995 study identified twelve beaver colonies in the upper Yauza basin; large portions became a typical "beaver landscape".[12]
After the river enters the city of Mytishchi, it flows through a chain of narrow valleys into Sokolniki Park deep inside Moscow.(55°49′24″N 37°40′19″E / 55.82333°N 37.67194°E / 55.82333; 37.67194) The Yauza Valleys, zoned specially protected natural territories, are managed by city authorities as public parks.
Past Sokolniki, the Yauza enters a heavily industrialized area; below Glebovsky Bridge (55°48′22″N 37°42′7″E / 55.80611°N 37.70194°E / 55.80611; 37.70194) it flows in a man-made channel shaped by granite embankments, with heavy traffic on both sides.

The Yauza collects waters from many tributaries, most of them confined to underground sewers (e.g. Rachka, Rybenka and Khapilovka). The few that remain on the surface, at least partially, are (north to south):[13]

Western (right bank) tributaries Eastern (left bank) tributaries
Lefortovsky Bridge, one of the oldest in Moscow, was built in 1777.[14]

The flow of the Yauza is regulated (particularly in winter)

Losiny Ostrov.[17]

Within the city of Moscow the Yauza is spanned by 21 road bridges, five railroad bridges, one dedicated

clearance under old bridges were common, with four in the 1950s alone (1951, 1952, 1955 and 1957); they were practically eliminated when these bridges were rebuilt to modern standards.[18] The most recent flash flood on the Yauza occurred August 14, 2003, following a record-setting rainfall.[19] The Yauza and its valleys are not particularly prone to the landslides and erosion common in the western and southern districts of Moscow. There were two minor landslides on the Yauza in 2008, compared with 40 on the Chertanovka River and 33 on the Gorodnya River.[20]

There is no commercial or recreational shipping, although the river is accessible to small motor boats as far as

Preobrazhenskaya Square[1] (55°47′42″N 37°42′14″E / 55.79500°N 37.70389°E / 55.79500; 37.70389
).

History

Further information: History of Moscow

Prehistory to the Time of Troubles

St. Andronik Monastery
on the Yauza, part of the medieval defence ring around Moscow

The first mention of the Yauza (as Auza) in Russian chronicles is directly connected to the foundation of Moscow: according to the chronicles, in 1156

Yury Dolgoruky "founded Moscow at the estuary of Neglinnaya above the Yauza"[2][21] on the site owned by Stepan Kuchka and known through another chronicle since 1147. There is no generally accepted etymology for Yauza or Auza. Similar toponyms (Auzas, Auzes, Auzi) exist in modern Latvia; the Baltic origins of Yauza are generally accepted but have not been proven.[22]

Medieval Moscow grew from its

Klyazma River
. After the fire of 1494,
Taganka Square),[3]
thus beginning the industrialization of the river.

17th and 18th centuries

Rostokino Aqueduct crosses the Yauza north from Alekseyevskoye, former country residence of Tsar Alexis of Russia.

Slobodas (settlements) of metalworkers' guilds expanded, and in the 17th century Taganka became the most densely populated, remote area of the city of Moscow.[3] The lower Yauza was used by numerous watermills and public baths tending to the growing population.[3]

Suburban valleys of the Yauza also flourished under the early

Alexis I of Russia (reigned 1645-1676) established a chain of country residencies in Preobrazhenskoye and Alekseevskoye (55°49′5″N 37°38′40″E / 55.81806°N 37.64444°E / 55.81806; 37.64444) on the Yauza, and Izmaylovo Estate on its Serebryanka tributary. In 1653 Alexis yielded to the pressure of Orthodox clergy and expelled Catholics and Protestants from Moscow; they resettled in the German Quarter
on the eastern bank of the Yauza, isolated from the city by the marshes around the Kokuy and Chechora streams.

Tsar

Catherine's Palace (55°45′42″N 37°41′44″E / 55.76167°N 37.69556°E / 55.76167; 37.69556), designed by Giacomo Quarenghi; the palace now houses a military academy,[24] and the former palace gardens have become a public park. Elizabeth of Russia built her country palace in Rubtsovo, on the site of Mikhail's former residence (55°46′56″N 37°41′42″E / 55.78222°N 37.69500°E / 55.78222; 37.69500
), from 1735 to 1743.

The

communion with the official Orthodox Church, built a large church complex on a high eastern bank of Yauza in Lefortovo (55°45′27″N 37°40′49″E / 55.75750°N 37.68028°E / 55.75750; 37.68028
).

In 1779

aquifers in the upper Yauza basin flowed to downtown Moscow through underground pipes, surface canals and an aqueduct which crossed the Yauza valley in Rostokino. After numerous delays and setbacks, the system was commissioned in 1804 and operated into the 20th century; the city of Mytishchi continues to use Yauza aquifers.[26]

Industrialization

German offensive
.

State-run factories established by Peter I on the Yauza provided the seed for a chain of private factories; by the end of the 18th century significant industrial clusters emerged in Lefortovo and former German Quarter (then practically devoid of Western-European influence). In 1846, pollution from these mills prompted Moscow governor Aleksey Shcherbatov to survey the banks of the Yauza and enforce administrative action against the offenders.[27]

Industrialization of the Yauza outside of the Garden Ring limits increased with the advent of railroads; within the Ring, the banks of the Yauza were the only heavily industrialized area.[28] A major hub of three railway stations emerged north from the Yauza in the third quarter of the 19th century. The dense rail network helped establish the eastern perimeter of Moscow (Basmanny, Lefortovo, Rogozhskoye and Sokolniki) as "the fastest growing and the most variegated area, holding dozens of textile and garment factories but also machinery enterprises and Moscow's one steel mill."[29]

The railroad infrastructure in Krasnoselsky District, a steady source of municipal revenue,[30] was threatened by regular floods on numerous tributaries of the Yauza.[31] This risk, along with the drive to free up land for development, led to the first modern flood control measures in the Yauza basin. Red Pond (55°45′37″N 37°40′36″E / 55.76028°N 37.67667°E / 55.76028; 37.67667), connected to the Yauza by the Chechora River, was drained and converted to municipal rail yards in 1900–1911.[32] During the same period, the Chechora was diverted into an underground sewer[31] and the Yauza was spanned by new bridges.[33]

Higher education along the Yauza goes back to the Imperial Technical College, established in 1830

Moscow State Technical University. The present college community around MSTU includes Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics, the Military University in Lefortovo, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, the State University Of Land Use Planning, Moscow State Pedagogical University
and others in Basmanny District.

20th century

Tupolev headquarters in Basmanny District

NPO Saturn) in Babushkinsky District.[36]

Joseph Stalin's 1935 Moscow Reconstruction Plan called for the creation of an inner ring of navigable waterways in northern Moscow.[41][42] The proposed Northern Shipping Canal (Russian: Северный судоходный канал) connectingKhimki Reservoir with the Yauza[41] would have made the latter navigable up to Sviblovo;[42] the Yauza valley north from Sviblovo would have been flooded into a broad reservoir.[42] A system of four[42] sets of locks would gradually reduce the water level; the river itself was to be deepened and widened into a navigable canal with granite embankments and broad, riverside highways.[41] Further industrialization of the Yauza was prohibited; the embankments of the Moskva and the Yauza were zoned for high-profile public and residential buildings.[41]

The Northern Canal, initially planned for completion in 1939,[43] was never built; instead, the water level in the Yauza was reinforced through a low-cost water pipe connecting the Khimki Reservoir and the Likhoborka River (right-side tributary of the Yauza). A single set of locks (instead of four), designed by Georgy Golts, was built in 1940. The river was widened and flanked with embankments according to plan, albeit at a slower pace.

The social and zoning policies made in 1935 were soon discarded; industrialization of the Yauza drainage basin continued unchecked through the Soviet period, particularly in the "reviled south-east quadrant" not obstructed by park and forest reserves.[44] The territory immediately east and southeast of the Yauza became "the city's worst rust and smokestack belt".[44] The "problem child of the first Five Year Plan" continued to grow until the economic collapse of early 1990s,[45] and the river itself became "a reeking porridge of raw wastes from eighty-two manufacturing plants."[46]

In the 1990s manufacturing along the Yauza declined, and by 2009 many former industrial sites had been converted or rebuilt into offices and housing.

Ecology

flotsam
and directs it to the dredging boat on the left.
Further information: Urban runoff

The industrialization of the Soviet period polluted the Yauza drainage basin to a point where "an oil-soaked tributary of Yauza burst into flame in 1971"; the Yauza itself "was called a river only by force of habit... the biggest gutter for waste in Moscow"[5] and caused a prominent surge in Moskva River pollution below the Yauza inlet.[47] By 2005 this surge disappeared, although pollution levels in the lower Yauza remained 2–3 times higher than in the Moskva just below the Yauza inlet.[48]

Untreated filthy

Central Administrative District is still flushed into the Moskva and Yauza untreated.[9] Until 2000 the river was used in winter as a dump for snow collected from the streets, adding chlorides, soot, rubbish and more oil into the mix.[50] This practice is now banned; the city now employs a network of snow-melting dumps that feed polluted water into treatment facilities.[50]

Pollution levels gradually decreased in the 1990s and 2000s, as riverside factories were closed and converted (or completely rebuilt) into offices and housing;

distillery (55°45′25″N 37°40′32″E / 55.75694°N 37.67556°E / 55.75694; 37.67556) in Lefortovo remains the last major industrial pollutant on the Yauza.[51][52]

Ruddy shelducks on the Yauza, Lefortovo District

Between 2001 and 2007 the city drained the lower stretches of the Yauza, swept poisonous sediments off its bottom and plugged hundreds of illegal sewage outlets.[51] The city commissioner's report for 2007 registered a significant decrease in pollution levels between 2006 and 2007 alone (a similar decrease was recorded in 2005[48]), and reclassified Yauza water from "dirty" (pollution index of 4..6) to "polluted" (index just below 4), specifically mentioning high levels of iron and manganese.[6]

In 2008, however, the trend reversed and pollution in the Yauza exceeded its 2006 levels.

2008 Russian financial crisis
.

The upper, cleaner stretch of the Yauza is home to about 20 species of fish, predominantly

Setun River in 1993.[57]

See also

Media related to Yauza River at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ^ a b c Yauza in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
  2. ^ a b "Foundation of the City". Moscow's city portal. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  3. ^ a b c d Pamyatniki Moskvy. Zemlyanoy Gorod, pp. 291, 295
  4. ^ Catherine did commission a palace in Lefortovo, but has not ever been there actually.
  5. ^ a b Colton, p. 546
  6. ^ a b c d State of environment in Moscow in 2007, section 4.1
  7. ^ a b State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.73, fig. 4.1.2.1
  8. ^ a b State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.79
  9. ^ a b c State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p. 81
  10. ^ Yu.Nasimovich
  11. ^ «Река ЯУЗА», Russian State Water Registry
  12. ^ a b c Surikova 2000
  13. ^ Names, lengths and areas as in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997.
  14. ^ Lefortovsky Bridge (Russian: Russian: Лефортовский мост) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
  15. ^
    Gzhat River
    ).
  16. ^ State of environment in Moscow in 2000–2001, p. 50. For comparison, Moskva River receives 600 million cubic meters.
  17. IUCN
    1995, p. 46
  18. ^ Navodneniya (Russian: Наводнения) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
  19. ^ "Moscow drenched with record rainfall as Europe sweats". The Russia Journal / Associated Press. August 14, 2003. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  20. ^ State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.186
  21. ^ a b Colton, p. 14
  22. ^ Paschalov 2008
  23. ^ Pamyatniki Moskvy. Bely Gorod, p. 309
  24. ^ Brooke, p. 218
  25. ^ Brooke, p. 198
  26. ^ Mytishchinsky vodoprovod (Russian: Мытищинскоий водопровод) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
  27. ^ Shcherbatov, Aleksey Grigoryevich (Russian: Алексей Григорьевич Щербатов) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997
  28. ^ Colton, p. 46
  29. ^ Colton, p. 47
  30. Kazansky Rail Terminal
    and Yauza. By 1901 municipal businesses contributed 27% of city revenue (55% by 1913). - Orobey et al., pp. 254-255
  31. ^ a b Sytin, p. 301
  32. ^ Orobey et al., p. 449
  33. ^ Colton, p. 55
  34. ^ Colton, p. 36
  35. ^ Duffy, p. 10
  36. ^ a b c Colton, p. 444
  37. Fili
    - see Colton, pp. 443-444
  38. ^ Colton, p. 212
  39. ^ Duffy, pp. 13, 21
  40. ^ Duffy, p. 24
  41. ^ a b c d "General Plan for reconstruction of Moscow (1935). City planning, paragraphs 3-5" (in Russian). 1935.
  42. ^ a b c d "General Plan for reconstruction of Moscow (1935). Map: Inner ring of Moscow waterways" (in Russian). 1935.
  43. ^ "General Plan for reconstruction of Moscow (1935). Construction, paragraph 6" (in Russian). 1935.
  44. ^ a b Colton, p. 515
  45. ^ Colton, pp. 515-516
  46. ^ Colton, p. 546, describes situation in 1960s and 1970s.
  47. ^ Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy p. 539
  48. ^ a b "Gidrochimichesky regime reki Moskvy (Гидрохимический режим реки Москвы)" (in Russian). Mosvodostok. 2005. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  49. ^ Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy p. 541; see also maps of pollution sources on pp. 541 and 542 - the areas immediately north-east from the city center are the Yauza drainage basin.
  50. ^ a b Koretsky, p. 361
  51. ^ a b State of environment in Moscow in 2007, section 4.2
  52. ^ a b State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.80
  53. ^ a b c d State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.78, table 4.1.2.1
  54. ^ State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.74
  55. ^ Sokolov 1998
  56. ^ "Pogibshaya v Yauze ryba mogla svaritsa (Погибшая в Яузе рыба могла свариться) and related news" (in Russian). lenta.ru. April 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  57. ^ "Fishes of Moscow and Moscow Region (in Russian)". Darwin Museum, Moscow. 1999. Retrieved 2009-08-04.

Sources

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