Maly Uzen River

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The Little Usen (Russian Малый Узень / Maly Usen; Kazakh Сарыөзен / Saryösen / " Yellow River ", rarely Кішкене Өзен / Kischkene eyelets / " Small River ") is a 638 km long river in the southeast of the European part of Russia and in the northwest Kazakhstan.

Course

The natural source of the Little Usen is around 100 meters above sea level in the far western part of the ridge Obschtschi Syrt, a few kilometers north of the city Yershov. Immediately in the source area of the river over the coming from the northeast Saratov channel is fed water from the left Volga tributary Little Irgis. The Little Usen flows around the city Yershov west and then first in predominantly southwest, later in a southeasterly direction through the steppes east of the Volga. After almost one third of its course the river reaches below the village named after him Maly Usen the border with Kazakhstan, which he marked on the following about 100 kilometers in a straight line. At several places the river is regulated by dams. The largest is located above the village Warfolomejewka and forms on the river section along the Russian- Kazakh border the lake of the same name. Below the village Petropawlowka leads from the reservoir a good 30 -mile channel to the east approximately parallel flowing Great Usen can be passed in both directions through the water as needed with the help of pump stations.

After leaving the border towards Kazakhstan, the river retains its south-eastern direction of flow in through the gradually trains a semi-desert landscape accepting. At the edge of the Caspian Sea basin, it flows through the village Schangaqasan ( kasach. Жаңақазан, Russian Novaya Kazanka ) the Aidyn Lake and flows a few kilometers later in the Soraidyn lake in the western part of the endorheic sink of Qamys Samar lakes ( Қамыс - Самар көлдері; Russian Kamysch - Samarskije lakes or Kamys - Samarskije lakes ), in which about 20 kilometers to the east and the Great Usen opens. From the Soraidyn Lake, the water can pour depending on seasonal amount in a confusing, located south, drain less lowering area and form salt lakes.

In the middle reaches of the river is not on pent-up sections in places over 50 meters wide, in Warfolomejewka reservoir up to 200 meters. In the lower reaches the width reaches even about 25 meters at one meter depth. The flow rate is 0.1 m / s Major tributaries has not the little Usen.

In addition to the city Yershov near the source of the Little Usen most important village is on the Russian section of the village of Maly Usen, on the Kazakh section of the Rajonverwaltungszentrum Qastalowka.

Hydrology

The catchment area of the river comprises 18,250 km ². The mean annual discharge at the middle reaches of the village of Maly Usen is 3.4 m³ / s During the year, the water supply is highly variable; during spring flood during snowmelt maximum of 782 m³ / s were measured, whereas the flow in the hot and dry summers leads very little water and can dry out especially in the lower reaches. From late November to April freezes the river.

The water supply is heavily modified by human intervention: already the headwaters of the Little Usen is fed from the small Irgis. Further below is multiple connection via ducts to the Great Usen, other channels result in some endorheic basin of smaller lakes. These channels are used for water level regulation and irrigation of agricultural land.

Use and infrastructure

The Little Usen is not navigable.

To a considerable extent, the water of the Little Usen for the irrigation of agricultural land is used mainly in Russia, to a lesser extent on the Kazakh section.

In source close to the Small Usen is west of the city Yershov of the railway Saratov - Oral (Uralsk ) - Sol - Ilezk and her following regional road 1R236 crossed. At the upper middle reaches of crosses in the villages Piterka ( with the same name station ) and Agafonowka the railway line from Krasny Kut after Nowousensk and Alexandrov Gai at the Great Usen the river and follow it to a few kilometers to Maly Usen. This route was already in 1895 by the Ryazan Uralsker railroad as a narrow gauge railway ( 1000 mm gauge ) opened and rebuilt in the 1920s to broad gauge.

History

In the the Little Usen in today's Kazakhstan village Qastalowka (Russian Kastalowka, originally Kasatschja Talowka ) in 1775 Yemelyan Pugachev, leader of the Russian peasant war of 1773-1775 troops under Alexander Suvorov captured.