Zeya reservoir is a powerful reservoir reaching a depth of 93 meters. This amazingly beautiful and powerful building, on the one hand, is seen as a great blessing that contributed to the development of the economy and improving the living conditions of people, and on the other hand, as a huge evil that upset the natural balance and caused harm to the environment. And both of these opinions are absolutely fair. Recently, the voice of the “green” has been sounding more confidently and insistently that the water level in the Zeya reservoir carries an extreme danger. Indeed, if the integrity of the dam is violated, then all settlements and cities located below the dam, along the river, will be washed away by powerful streams from the face of the earth.
Zeya reservoir changed the face of the Amur region
The Far Eastern hydroelectric station gave its first current in late autumn 1975. Hard work and tremendous efforts were required in order to create the Zeya reservoir. But as a result, all settlements located within a radius of several hundred kilometers received cheap electrical energy. The power of the hydroelectric power station is huge. It produces up to 5 billion kWh of electricity per year. In addition, hydropower specialists carry out additional activities. They regulate current frequencies, optimize peak loads in the system of the Far Eastern energy complex, maintaining the necessary indicators of active power. In addition, under their constant control is the entire Zeya reservoir. Water discharge is an event that is necessary during the onset of flood peaks so that pressure on the dam cannot reach a critical point. Moreover, over the entire period of operation, there were no accidents, and the whole Amur region flashed with lights. Large enterprises were built here, industry developed.
The population received flood protection, light and heat
In the harsh winter season, thanks to the energy generated by the Zeya reservoir, or rather its water, the houses of the entire Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation are heated, including Primorsky Territory, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory, Chita and its entire region. In addition, people ceased to suffer and die from catastrophic floods, which regularly, every 2-3 years, flooded entire villages, carried away cattle and belongings. Uncontrolled water flows caused irreparable damage to the fertile soil layer, which did not contribute to the development of the agricultural industry.
Negative factors
During the design and construction of the hydroelectric power station, it did not bother anyone that the Zeya reservoir would flood a huge forest. Therefore, trees and shrubs cover more than half of its bottom. During the construction of the facility, new settlements were built to relocate residents from 14 villages to be flooded. But, local authorities decided not to carry out work on cleaning the forest, not seeing any threat in this. Today, flooded wood as a result of rotting releases phenols, and their concentration is constantly increasing. This is one of the negative factors. Another is that the dam divided the river into two parts, so from the lower fish can not rise in its upper reaches to spawn. Thus, the Zeya reservoir caused significant and irreparable environmental damage.