Kolva River (Usa)

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Location of the Kolva ( Колва ) in the catchment area of the Pechora

The Kolva (Russian Колва ) is a 546 km long right tributary of Uzza in the north- east of the European part of Russia.

Course

The Kolva has its origin at about 200 m high ridge Janeimusjur that the area along the coast of the Arctic Ocean between Polar Urals and the Pechora, extending in the Bolschesemelskaja - tundra of the Arctic Circle. Here they entfließt which is situated at about 130 m Kolwaty Lake. The river flows through the tundra landscape in predominantly southern, in the middle reaches and westerly direction initially on the territory of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in sections, in wide arcs meandering. Then you have reached the territory of the Republic of Komi and the northern edge of the taiga. The Kolva finally flows near the town Ussinsk or below the urban-type settlement in Parma height 31 m in the Uzza.

The most important tributaries of the Kolva are Kolwawis and Sandiwei from the left and from the right Charjacha.

Hydrographic

The catchment area of ​​18,100 km ² comprises Kolva. In estuaries near the river reaches a width of about 300 meters at a depth of two meters; the flow rate is in this case 0.7 m / s

The Kolva freezes between late November and mid-May. The water flow at 137 km above the mouth of the annual average 165 m³ / s at a minimum of 1.8 m³ / s in March and a maximum of 860 m³ / s in June.

Infrastructure and economy

The Kolva is navigable from Chorei - Who, below the confluence of the Kolwawis, to 330 km.

In connection with the discovery of large oil deposits along the lower Kolva in the 1960s and their development from the 1970s and increasingly since the 1980s, grew up along the river for a distance of over 150 km of several continuously inhabited settlements, such Charjaga Autonomous circle the Nenets and Werchnekolwinsk in the Komi Republic, next to a variety of temporary oil workers settlements. Oil reserves at the Kolva are sold by Lukoil and with the participation of foreign companies, such as Total, exploited.

The settlements are connected to each other by a road, which starts from Ussinsk and crosses the river four times. Ussinsk itself has an airport and is located a few kilometers from Kolva and Uzza away. Right on the Kolva is located six kilometers above the mouth of an ancient village of the same name.