The largest river in Kamchatka. Hydrography of Kamchatka: rivers, lakes, groundwater. Location of the Kamchatka Peninsula, description

Rivers of Kamchatka

More than six thousand large and small rivers flow through the region, but only a few of them are more than 200 km long and only 7 are more than 300.
The largest rivers: Kamchatka, Penzhina, Talovka, Vyvenka, Oklan Penzhina River, Tigil, Bolshaya (with Bystraya), Avacha.
The insignificant length of Kamchatka rivers is explained by the close location of the main river watersheds from the sea coast.

There are two main ridges on the peninsula - Sredinny and Vostochny, which stretch in the meridional direction. From the outer (western) slope of the Sredinny Range, rivers flow into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, from the outer slope of the East - into the Pacific Ocean. And those that arise on the inner slopes of these ridges flow into the central valley, along the bottom of which flows the most big river peninsula - Kamchatka.

The rivers of our region, although shorter, are fuller than the rivers of the European part of the USSR: from each square kilometer of drainage area they receive 15-25 liters of water per second - almost twice as much as in Europe.

Types of rivers

Based on the nature of the river flow, the regions are divided into several groups. The most common are mountain ones, the sources of which lie near the main watersheds. They are the largest on the peninsula and are formed from melting snow. However, they receive most of their nutrition from groundwater. Some of these rivers flow throughout their entire length within the mountains, while others flow only within upper reaches.

In mountainous regions, rivers flow in narrow valleys with steep slopes. They, as a rule, have a fast rapids flow, and when they come out onto the plains, they are calm: they break up into numerous channels and branches, strongly meander (loop), forming many oxbow lakes. Near the sea, the flow of rivers is slowed by tidal waters. Their mouths often turn into long estuaries, which is especially typical for the west coast. When they flow into the sea, they usually form “cats” and “spits”; bars are observed at the mouths (bars are shoals created by a tidal sea wave, making it difficult for ships to enter the mouths).

The upper reaches of Kamchatka, Avacha, Bystraya, Tigil, Penzhina and others are very characteristic of mountain rivers. Lowland rivers include Kamchatka, Penzhina and others in their middle and lower reaches.

The third group is dry rivers. They cut through the slopes of volcanoes and carry their waters to the receiving pools only in the summer, when the snow melts. During the rest of the year, water seeps into loose volcanic rocks and rivers disappear from the surface of the earth. An example is Elizovskaya and Khalaktyrskaya.

The rivers have a mixed diet. Most of it consists of groundwater and water obtained from melting snow in the mountains and valleys. The role of ground nutrition increases in low-water years, and snow nutrition, on the contrary, in high-water years. Rain power is significant for the rivers of the west coast, where its share in some years can be 20-30 percent. There are rain floods here in the fall, sometimes exceeding the spring flood in height.

Freezing and opening. Due to the abundant ground supply, ice cover on many rivers is unstable, and there are large ice-free areas and polynyas. In winter, ice often appears only near the banks; places with fast currents and the middle of the river are usually free of ice. Freeze-up begins in November or even December, and only slightly earlier in the north of the region. In the north and northwest, where climatic conditions are more severe, medium and small rivers on rapids freeze to the bottom, forming ice dams.

The opening of the rivers occurs in April - early May, in the north of the peninsula - somewhat later (in the middle and end of May). The opening is accompanied by spring ice drift, which is especially typical for rivers in the northwestern region.

Water content.

Its main indicator for rivers is water flow. It increases downstream as the basin grows. Thus, the average annual water flow in the upper reaches of the Kamchatka River is 91 cubic meters per second, in the lower reaches it is ten times more. Water content also depends on precipitation and the nature of the underlying surface. For example, the Penzhina River has a much larger drainage area than the Kamchatka River, but its average annual flow is less.

The Kamchatka River flows through the lowland located between the Sredinny and Eastern ranges. Having cut through the Kumroch ridge with a narrow valley - an area called “Cheeks” - it flows into the Kamchatka Gulf Pacific Ocean.

In the upper reaches the river has a mountainous character. Fast, greenish-turbid waters rush rapidly from the Ganalsky and Sredinny ridges. Swift streams rush between the stone banks, tear off stones and carry them far downstream. Stones piled up in the riverbed form riffles and rapids.

Below the village of Pushchino the current becomes smooth. The river becomes flat and begins to meander strongly. Its width in the area of ​​the village of Milkovo is 100-150 meters.

The further down you go, the wider and deeper it becomes. The wide floodplain along which the river laid its winding channel with many branches and oxbow lakes is covered with a green carpet of meadows interspersed with fields and forests. In many places the forest comes close to the river and forms a dense wall of green hedge. In its lower reaches, the Kamchatka River widens to 500-600 meters, and its depths range from 1 to 6 meters. Numerous rapids make the river fairway unstable. After large floods it changes its position. This greatly complicates navigation.

The river freezes in November and opens at the end of April - beginning of May. Among the numerous tributaries, the largest are Elovka, Tolbachik, Shchapina.

Along the banks of the river are the villages of Milkovo, Dolinovka, Shchapino, Kozyrevsk, Klyuchi, Ust-Kamchatsk, etc.

Kamchatka is the most important transport route of the peninsula. Passenger trams, boats, and barges travel along it. Shipping is carried out almost to Milkovo. Large quantities of timber are floated. Salmon fish enter the river and its tributaries to spawn. The mighty northern beauty river is an interesting tourist route for summer hikes.

Lakes of Kamchatka

There are over 100 thousand Kamchatka lakes, but their water surface area is only 2 percent of the entire area of ​​the region. Only four lakes have an area of ​​more than 50 square kilometers, and two have an area of ​​more than 100.

The lakes are varied and attractive. They often present a unique and amazing panorama.

Not far from the village of Semlyachiki there are the remains of the old Uzon volcano. Its top was demolished by a colossal volcanic explosion, and at an altitude of more than 500 meters a huge caldera (bowl) with an area of ​​about 100 square kilometers was formed. This area contains a lot of springs, streams and small lakes. Many of them are filled with boiling water and constantly seethe, indicating the violent activity of the volcano. One of them is especially remarkable - Fumarolnoe. Its area is about 40 hectares. The water in it is always hot. Ducks and swans winter here.

There are many lakes like it. One of the most beautiful is Khangar. The huge stone bowl of the volcano of the same name rises to a height of 2000 meters. It is very difficult to climb to the top. It is even more difficult to go down to the lake along the steep walls of the crater. Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A.E. Svyatlovsky, who overcame all these difficulties, drove around the lake in a rubber inflatable boat and decided to measure the depth. However, the hundred-meter rope did not reach the bottom.

Tectonic processes - the rise and fall of individual sections of the earth's surface - led to the formation of a number of lakes. Of tectonic origin are the lakes Dalnee and Nlye in the area of ​​the village of Paratunka and one of the deepest and most beautiful lakes in Kamchatka - Kurilskoye.

The largest lakes:

Name Location Mirror area (in sq. km)
Nerpichye(with Kultuchn) In the estuarine part of the Kamchatka River 552
Kronotskoe West of the Kronotsky Peninsula 245
Kuril In the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula 77.1
Azhabachye In the area of ​​the village of Nizhnekamchatsk 63.9
Big South of the village of Oktyabrsky 53.5

Thanks to the invaluable work of S.P. Krasheninnikov, an ancient, poetic legend about the Alaid volcano has reached us:

"...The aforementioned mountain (Alaid) stood before at the declared lake (Kuril); and since its height took away the light from all other mountains, they were constantly indignant at Alaid and quarreled with her, so that Alaid was forced to leave from anxiety and to go into solitude at sea; however, in memory of her stay on the lake, she left her heart, which in Kuril is Uchichi, also Nukhguni, that is, Pupkova, and in Russian it is called Heart-Stone, which stands in the middle of Kuril Lake and has a conical shape. Her path was the place where the Ozernaya River flows, which began on the occasion of this journey: for as the mountain rose from its place, the water from the lake rushed after it and made a road for itself to the sea.”

Kuril Lake is surrounded by volcanoes. Its banks are steep and steep. Numerous mountain streams and hot springs flow here, and only the Ozernaya River flows out, which freezes briefly in winter. Kuril Lake is the deepest on the peninsula (306 meters). Its bottom is below ocean level.

A similar legend was recorded by Krasheninnikov about the origin of another lake - Kronotsky. This is the largest freshwater lake in the region. In area it exceeds Avacha Bay. The greatest depth is 128 meters. It arose due to the fact that colossal masses of lava, poured out from a nearby volcano, blocked the valley through which the rapids and noisy Kronotskaya River runs, and formed a dam. According to legend, the lake was formed because the Shiveluch volcano moved to a new place of residence and on the way carelessly broke the tops of two hills. The “traces” of his feet, filled with water, turned into lakes. In particular, these include the Kharchinskoye and Kurazhechnoye lakes, well known to residents of the village of Klyuchi.

In the lower reaches of the Kamchatka River lies the largest of the brackish lakes - Nerpichye, the remnant of a bay that separated from the sea after the coast of the peninsula was slowly raised. Its depth is 12 meters. It consists of two lakes connected to each other, one of them is called Nerpichye, and the other is Kultuchnoye. The surf and the river took part in its origin. The name of the lake indicates what is found here sea ​​animal— seal (type of seal). Kultuchnoye comes from the Turkic word kultuk - lagoon.

Lagoon-type lakes are common on the western coast of the peninsula. They form at the mouths of almost all large rivers of the Western Kamchatka Lowland. Lagoon lakes have an elongated shape.

The most numerous group of lakes are peat lakes. Their clusters can be found in the Western Kamchatka Lowland, Parapolsky Dole and coastal plains east coast. Such lakes, as a rule, are small, have a round shape and steep shores.

The lakes of Kamchatka are located at different altitudes above sea level and are heterogeneous in their temperature and water regime. They also have different periods of freezing and opening.

The greatest rise in water level is observed in the summer, when the snow melts in the mountains. The height of the level of coastal lakes depends on the tidal sea ​​currents. The greatest amplitude of level fluctuations in the lagoons of the west coast reaches 4-5 meters. Lagoons and lakes sea ​​coasts freeze in December - later than in the interior regions of the peninsula, and break up in late May - early June, although some of them are cleared of ice only in July

The rivers of Kamchatka have enormous reserves of energy. Their abundance, abundance of water and mountainous nature create favorable conditions for the construction of hydroelectric power stations, but our rivers for the most part are spawning grounds for such valuable species fish like salmon. And the spawning grounds need to be preserved.

The shallow lakes of Kamchatka, which warm up well, are used for breeding silver crucian carp - a tasty and nutritious fish. Amur carp and sterlet are also bred here.

The largest rivers of Kamchatka are reliable transport routes. Goods, materials, equipment, and construction timber are transported across Kamchatka, Penzhina and some others.

About Kamchatka

Rivers and lakes of Kamchatka

Rivers

A large amount of precipitation, the presence of permafrost, long-melting snow in the mountains, low evaporation, and mountainous terrain are the reasons for the development of an exceptionally dense hydraulic network within the Kamchatka Territory.
In Kamchatka there are 140,100 rivers and streams, but only 105 of them have a length of over 100 km. Despite their insignificant depth, the rivers are extremely deep.
The Kamchatka River (length 758 km) and the Penzhina River (713 km) stand out sharply in size. Most Kamchatka rivers flow in a latitudinal direction, which is due to the meridional nature of the main watersheds: Sredinny and Eastern ranges.

Kamchatka rivers They have a mountainous character in the upper reaches and a calm character within the plains. When they flow into the sea, many of them usually form spits, and at their mouths there are underwater shafts and bars.
Within the mountains, rivers flow in relatively narrow V-shaped valleys with steep slopes and have a fast, often rapids flow. The bottom and slopes of the valleys are composed of large coarse clastic material (boulders, pebbles, gravel). As rivers approach the plains, the size of the material composing the valleys and river beds decreases; The flow of rivers slows down and becomes calmer. IN general outline The coastal lowlands are a combination of flat wetlands concentrated mainly near the coast, undulating, hilly interfluves and wide river valleys. Within the hilly plains, river channels branch into channels and branches, and on the coastal lowlands they form many bends and old rivers.

Mountain rivers are distributed exclusively within mountainous regions. Basically, they correspond to the upper sections of rivers, but on large rivers this pattern is violated. Often, when crossing the spurs of ridges, rivers in the middle and even lower reaches acquire a mountainous flow due to the large slopes of the valley.
Rivers within mountainous regions with maximum elevation differences have rapids-waterfall channels. They are characterized by alternating rapids and waterfalls with segments of stagnant zones. Such rivers are usually small in size and flow along the bottom of valleys with steep slopes. The length of such sections ranges from a few percent of the entire length of the river (if the river downstream flows into the foothills and plains) to 100% (small rivers and streams flowing throughout their entire length within mountainous regions).
As the relief gradually flattens out, the rapids and waterfalls disappear, but the nature of the flow still remains turbulent. In addition, as tributaries enter, the size and water content of rivers (i.e., the amount of water flowing through cross section rivers increase over a certain period of time. Such rivers are most characterized by a rectilinear channel shape with separate single islands and forced bends (bends in the river bed). The formation of such bends is due to the fact that the river flow tends to go around rocky ledges, composed of strong, indestructible rocks. rocks, and thereby acquires a tortuous shape.
In some areas, mountain rivers form large erosion holes, the depth of which is tens of times greater than the average depth of the river. Such holes are good refuges for fish, since the current speeds in them are sharply reduced.

On the large rivers of Kamchatka you can also observe areas with rapid flow. Narrow valleys with steep slopes, high speeds currents (> 1 m/s) can be caused by the restriction of rivers by spurs of mountain ranges. On rivers that, in general, do not have a deep and flat channel, there are always sections with a significant slope, leading to a sharp increase in flow speeds, which, due to the shallow depth and rockiness of the channels, makes the flow turbulent. Such rivers, as a rule, flow in a single channel and only a few islands divide the flow into branches. The islands here are high and represent clusters of large pebbles, overgrown with birch and alder bushes. Open pebble banks form above and below the islands.
The most beautiful banks of mountain rivers attract attention. When approaching the ridges they take on the appearance of high rocky ledges. The mosses and lichens growing on them give the rocks a red-brown or green color.
When moving from mountainous to flat conditions, the steepness of river valleys and the flow speed sharply decrease. For these reasons, the flow power becomes insufficient to move river sediments (boulders, pebbles). This material is deposited directly in the river bed, forming peculiar islands called sedges. As a result, a bizarre and very dynamic pattern is formed from many ducts separated by islands. These types of channels are most common in the lower reaches of small rivers.
One more distinctive feature of these rivers is the presence of a large amount of driftwood (various sizes of logs and branches) in the riverbed, which is associated with the rivers exiting into forest area. During periods of spring snowmelt, as well as after heavy rains, the water level in rivers and flow speeds increase, and the flow of water intensively erodes the banks. As a result, a huge amount of woody material enters the river and is deposited downstream on the shallows - near islands or coastal spits. That is why the largest creases (accumulations of branches, cramps, as well as entire tree trunks) lead to the splitting of the river into channels, some of which have the opposite direction to the main flow of the river. As a result, the use of rivers for rafting purposes along almost their entire length turns out to be impossible.

Distribution of rivers by basin. All rivers of the Kamchatka Territory belong to the basins of the Okhotsk and Bering Seas and the Pacific Ocean.
The rivers of western Kamchatka flow into Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Most originate in Sredinny ridge. A smaller part originates in its foothills or peat bogs. In the upper reaches they flow in narrow gorges with numerous rapids and waterfalls; on the plain their valleys become wide (up to 5-6 km), the banks are low, and the flow is slow. The rivers form channels and are replete with sandbanks.
Swamp rivers represent a sharp contrast to clear, rapid mountain streams. Their bed is mostly narrow and deeply cut into the peat. The water, as always in swamp streams, is dark brown in color and the flow is slow. After rains they swell greatly. They usually start in small oval or round lakes.
The largest of the rivers flowing into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk is Penzhina river(713 km). The river originates in Kolyma ridge and flows into Penzhinskaya Bay. The largest tributaries of the Penzhina are the Oklan and Chernaya rivers. Other rivers in the western part of Kamchatka include: Bolshaya, Tigil, Icha, Vorovskaya, Krutogorova.
The rivers flowing into the Bering Sea are even shorter than the rivers of western Kamchatka. Most of them have a pronounced mountain character all the way to the mouth. The largest rivers originate in the Sredinny Range: Ozernaya(length 199 km), Ivashka, Karaga, Anapka, Valovayam. WITH Koryak Highlands flow into the Bering Sea Vivenka, Pakhacha, Apuka.
Directly to Pacific Ocean The rivers of south-eastern Kamchatka flow into them. Of these, the largest are Zhupanova, Avacha And Kamchatka.
The largest river in the region Kamchatka(length 758 km, drainage area 55.9 thousand sq. km), unlike other Kamchatka rivers, it flows along a large section of its length Central Kamchatka plain and has a mountainous character only in the upper reaches. The river has many tributaries. Of these, the largest: left - Kozyrevka, Fast, Elovka; right - Shchapina And Big Khapitsa.

The rivers of Kamchatka are surrounded by a landscape that is completely unique in terms of vegetation. In conditions high humidity, which is typical for flooded floodplains, grass grows of truly monstrous size, in which an adult person disappears headlong. They are accompanied by bushes, all together creating a truly impassable thicket.
Another one characteristic floodplain landscape - animal trails. Even in the most wild places along water bodies there are trodden paths along which you can move freely (unless you meet a four-legged club-footed friend on it).

Lakes

In Kamchatka from above 100 thousand large and small lakes. By nature they can be divided into six types. Each type is confined to a specific region of the region.
1. Numerous crater and dammed lakes are common in areas of ancient and modern volcanism. Crater (sometimes with hot water) lakes are small in size and located at a considerable altitude. Dammed lakes were formed as a result of the damming of rivers lava flows(Lake Palanskoe).
Small pools often form where hot springs emerge hot water. Lakes associated with volcanism also include large caldera lakes (Lake Kurilskoe).
2. Oxbow lakes form the second large group. They are located mainly in the valley of the Kamchatka River.
3. On the coasts, mainly in the estuarine parts of rivers, there are lagoon lakes, separated from the sea by spits. They are of considerable size. Lake Nerpichye, for example, is the most large lake Kamchatka. Its area is 448 square meters. km, depths range from 4 to 13 m.
4. Discharge lakes were formed as a result of the splitting and subsidence of individual sections earth's crust. They are characterized by the simplicity of the outline of the banks. (Lake Dalnee near the village of Paratunki).
5. Another type is formed by glacial lakes located at the foot of the ridges, where they sometimes form a typical landscape.
6. Peat lakes are widespread within the region.

Many lakes were formed under the influence of several factors and cannot be classified into any specific type.
Small, well-warmed lakes are home to silver crucian carp and pike. In some lakes there is Amur carp.
At the same time, the lakes are wonderful spawning grounds for salmon, and Lake Kurilskoe And Nerpichye are among the best spawning grounds in the world.
Some lakes are an exceptional phenomenon. An example is Lake Kurilskoye, an ancient caldera filled with water. Among the volcanic lakes of Russia there is not a single one that is anything close to it in structure. With a relatively small size (77.1 sq. km), the lake has great depths (306 m) and belongs to the deepest lakes in Eurasia. The panorama of the lake is unique. It is surrounded on all sides by majestic volcanic cones. The shores and underwater slopes are steep and rocky. Ancient lake terraces are visible on the slopes of the volcanoes.
Islands rise from the bottom in the form of peaks, one of the islands, a triangular Alaid rock.
The lake is fed by numerous mountain streams mixed with the waters of hot springs. One weakly freezing river, Ozernaya, flows out of it. The lake is one of the most important spawning grounds for sockeye salmon.
In the craters or calderas of many volcanoes there are lakes that do not freeze all winter, so ducks and swans often spend the winter on them.

Palana is a small picturesque river flowing in the north of the Kamchatka Territory. In its upper reaches, the river forms many beautiful rapids, which attract the bulk of tourists.

The name "palana" comes from an old Koryak word that means "threshold". And the river fully corresponds to its name - originating from Lake Palansky, it forms long chain rapids and waterfalls at their source. Many of these waterfalls are very picturesque and beautiful.

Apart from the rapids, Palana has nothing else to boast of. The river is about 140 kilometers long and is used mainly to satisfy the various economic needs of the region. In addition, its waters are home to many species commercial fish, so Palana is also popular among local fishermen.

Zhupanova River

The Zhupanova River is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, its length is about 240 km. Flowing into the Kronotsky Bay, the river forms a vast estuary, which bears the same name. The Zhupanova River has a typical mountain character and is considered a corner of virgin nature untouched by civilization. Five species of salmon spawn here. In addition, the river basin has become a habitat for many animals, such as the brown bear, reindeer, fox, sable and many others.

Sport fishing is practiced on the river.

In the next five years, it is planned to build small hydroelectric power stations on the river; unfortunately, this will lead to flooding of part of the valley, which could have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of this ecosystem.

Kamchatka River is the most large river the edges. It stretches over more than 750 km. The Itelmens called it Uykoal, which means “Big River”. U Kamchatka there are two sources: the left one, which begins at the Sredinny ridge (Ozernaya Kamchatka) and the right one, which is located in the eastern ridge (Right Kamchatka). Meeting in the area of ​​the Ganal tundra, they form the beginning of Kamchatka itself. This river flows in a northerly direction, but near the village of Klyuchi it abruptly changes and flows into the Kamchatka Bay, which is why a wide mouth is formed, in which the fairway often changes.

Kamchatka remains the only river area that is of navigable importance. Today Kamchatka is used for shipping purposes over a distance of 200 km. from the mouth. The lower reaches can boast depths of up to 5-6 m on the reaches during low-water periods, and up to 2 m on the riffles.

Pool Kamchatka River is located in the Central Kamchatka depression, between the western Sredinny ridge and the eastern Valaginsky ridge. Because of large sizes Almost 80% of the river's length is on a flat bed. The upper course is semi-mountainous and mountainous, and has multiple branchings typical of rivers in the region.

On the territory of the flat riverbed there are special and quite intriguing places. These include the Big Cheeks gorge, where the river flows for 35 km. Throughout this section of the river there are almost vertical rocky shores, which will give odds to any of the canyons North America. Here they appeared due to the intersection of the river with the spurs of the Kamchatka Range. In addition, the river passes through the spurs of the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano, along which, already in the form of a large lowland river, it forms the Krekurlinsky and Pingrinsky rapids.

On Kamchatka River the largest fisheries resources are located. During the spawning season, all types of fish appear here salmon breed, among which you can see: pink salmon, chum salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, kunja. There are quite a lot of fish belonging to residential forms: char, mykiss, Dolly Varden, grayling. There are species of the carp family, as well as those related to sturgeon.

Kamchatka River It has a large number of tributaries The largest ones include Elovka, Shchapina, Kozyrevka. A sufficient amount of alluvial material has been observed in Kamchatka and its tributaries.

Kamchatka River bears the title of not only the largest reservoir in the region, but also occupied a significant place in the history of the region. People settled in the river valley in ancient times. While working in the valley, archaeologist N.N. Dikov found ancient settlements. The great habitability of this valley was also noted by Russian pioneers. The Cossacks who went on reconnaissance reported that from the mouth of the Elovka to the sea, on an area of ​​150 km, there were 160 forts. In each fort, 150-200 people lived in one or two yurts. According to the most conservative estimates, approximately 25 thousand people lived in the river valley.

The river is located within the Kamchatka Territory.

In the Itelmen language - “Uykoal” (“big river”). There are more than 20 versions of the origin of the toponym “Kamchatka”. According to one of them, the name of the peninsula comes from the Kamchatka River, which, in turn, was named after a Cossack who crossed the peninsula with his detachment in 1658–1660.

The length of the river is 758 km, the basin area is 55.9 thousand km 2, the average height of the basin is 560 m, the total fall of the river is 1200 m, the average slope is 1.58‰. In terms of basin area, Kamchatka ranks 2nd among the rivers of the Kamchatka Territory (after Penzhina) and 33rd in Russia. The Kamchatka River is formed from the melting of snowfields at the bottom of a deep bowl-shaped gorge in the southern part of the Sredinny Range. Most of the river is located within the Central Kamchatka Depression, which is limited on the left side by the Sredinny Ridge, and on the right by the Eastern Ridge. In the middle course, the river goes around the Klyuchevskaya group of volcanoes, and in the lower reaches it breaks through a narrow gorge (Big Shcheki) through the Kumroch ridge, reaches the coastal lowland and flows into the Kamchatka Gulf of the Pacific Ocean. When entering the sea, the mouth of the river is blocked by a mouth bar. At the mouth reach, the river is connected by a wide channel to the largest lake on the peninsula, Nerpichy Lake.

In the Kamchatka basin there are 7,707 rivers with a total length of 30,352 km, the average density of the river network is 0.54 km/km 2 . Most rivers (7105) are less than 10 km long. Main tributaries: Pravaya Kamchatka (30 km), Kavycha (108), Vakhvina Levaya (94 km), Kitilgina (140 km), Shchapina (172 km), Tolbachik (148 km), Bolshaya Khapitsa (111 km) (right); Andrianovka (92 km), Kirganik (121 km), Bolshaya Kimitina (105), Kozyrevka (222 km), Elovka (244 km), Raduga (84 km) (left).

The climate in the basin is close to temperate continental. In the distribution of annual precipitation amounts over the territory, there is great heterogeneity, due in addition to the general circulation air masses also with varied terrain. The average annual precipitation varies from 440 mm in the middle reaches of the river (Kozyrevsk) to 600–800 mm in its upper reaches (Milkovo and Pushchino, respectively) and 710 mm in the lower part of the basin (Ust-Kamchatsk). Modern glaciation in the river basin is developed mainly on the tops and slopes of high volcanic mountains, especially in the Klyuchevskaya group of volcanoes.

In the river basin it is well expressed altitudinal zone. In the lower reaches the river flows through a swampy lowland composed of light brown loams and sandy loams, peat-gley and peat soils. The vegetation cover within its boundaries is represented by alder-willow forest and shrubs. In the middle reaches of the river they are common larch forests with an admixture of spruce and white birch. The upper reaches are dominated by sparse groves of white and stone birch with dry meadows on slightly podzolic soils. In the upper reaches of the tributaries of the river. Kamchatka is inhabited by mountain tundras.

The Kamchatka River is predominantly underground (50–60% of the annual volume) and snow fed. The main phase of its water regime is the spring-summer flood, during which 50–75% of the annual flow passes. Flood usually occurs in two waves. The first is caused by the melting of snow in the valley, and the second by the melting of snowfields in the mountains. After the flood, a relatively high-water stable low-water period occurs (September–October). The increased water content of this period is caused by abundant ground nutrition and the continuing melting of glaciers and snowfields. Winter low water begins at end of October, ends at the end of April - beginning of May; her average duration 170–180 days.

In the upper reaches of the river, the annual runoff modules are quite large and amount to about 20–26 l/(sq.km). In the middle and lower reaches of the river, the runoff modules are noticeably smaller - about 16 l/(sq.km). The average long-term volume of water flow at the mouth of Kamchatka is 30.4 km 3 , in the area of ​​the Bolshie Shcheki station – 28.1 km 3 . About half is the underground component.

The average long-term turbidity of Kamchatka water in the upper reaches is 50 g/m 3 , in the middle reaches – 130–170 g/m 3 , in the lower reaches – 85–90 g/m 3 . The average long-term module of the river sediment runoff is about 99.4 t/km 2 ∙year. A significant amount of suspended material comes with the waters of right-bank tributaries flowing from the slopes of active volcanoes. Therefore, after the activation of volcanoes, the turbidity of water and sediment runoff in the Kamchatka River usually increase noticeably (as was the case after the largest eruptions of Bezymyanny and Shiveluch volcanoes in the 20th century in 1956 and 1964, respectively). In the Kamchatka basin, cases of mudflows are not uncommon. The most significant was the mud-stone flow that descended along the bed of Bolshaya Khapitsa after the catastrophic eruption of the Bezymianny volcano in March 1956.

Mineralization of river water ranges from 35–100 mg/l during high water to 200 mg/l during low water. The water in the river belongs to the hydrocarbonate class; during the flood period it has a weakly expressed sulfate character. The population and production facilities in the Kamchatka basin are supplied with water mainly from underground sources.

The large villages of Milkovo, Kozyrevsk, Klyuchi and Ust-Kamchatsk are located on the river. In the middle of the 20th century. navigation in Kamchatka was carried out until the village. Milkovo (576 km from the mouth). It usually lasted from May to October. To date, after completion of construction highway, which connected Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with all the villages on the Kamchatka River, river navigation virtually ceased. In the village Ust-Kamchatsk has a port that accepts sea vessels with a shallow draft. There is only one hydroelectric power station in the river basin – the diversion “Bystrinskaya”. The Kamchatka River with its tributaries is the most important center of reproduction salmon fish(chum salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon and pink salmon) in the region.