Urwan (river)

Urvan Valley is located on the foothill plain. The beginning of the river Urvan is located at an altitude of 580 meters above sea level, the mouth at 195 meters. The relief of the territory along which the river Urvan flows, smoothed and sometimes hilly, with various depressions into the valley of the river. There are no significant elevations along the sides of the river.

The channel in the upper course is largely channeled: here the tortuosity coefficient is 1.02. The average current is less affected by human activity: the tortuosity coefficient is 1.06. Almost the natural outline of the channel is preserved in the lower reaches of the Urvan River - the tortuosity coefficient is 1.33.

In the upstream, the Urvan River is a canalized channel with straightened sides. The channel width is about 3-3.5 meters, depth is 15-25 cm. The average water speed is 0.4-0.7 m / s. Water consumption is about 0.5-1.6 m3 / s. Much of the water goes to fill the fish ponds near the village of Nartan .

The bed of the river Urvan in the middle and lower reaches is very tortuous. Here, two main tributaries of the Nalchik and Shalushka flow into Urvan on the left. As well as its largest right tributary - White River. Further, Urwan acquires its natural outlines, and up to the confluence with the Cherek River, the coast is covered with floodplain forests for almost the entire length.

The width of the river bed on average is about 7 meters and a maximum of 20 meters. The depth is mainly 30-40 cm, in numerous holes it reaches up to 2 meters or more. The bottom is rocky in the shallows, sandy in the pits and in the reaches. The transparency of the water varies throughout the year and depends on the precipitation.

The average speed of the river Urvan is 0.8-1.1 m / s. Water discharge varies in seasons: in the spring and summer after the rains it reaches 12 m3 / s, in the winter low water period - only 3-5 m3 / s. In some years, water consumption exceeds 20 m3 / s.

Along the valley of the river Urvan there are settlements - Urvan , Shithala , Black River , Koldrasinsky , Novo-Ivanovskoe , Pravo-Urvansky , Krasnaya Polyana and Oktyabrskoe .

Natural vegetation is represented by dense, broad-leaved forests in the middle and lower reaches of the river and meadows of varying degrees of upland cultivation. The basis of the tree-shrub vegetation consists of the white-leaved poplar, alder, hazel, aspen, various types of willow, and ash. Mostly numerous viburnum and sea buckthorn. A significant part of the territory adjacent to the Urvan River is agriculturally developed: in some places, pastures, fields, orchards and vineyards adjoin practically the riverbed or the narrow coastal forest.

The ichthyofauna of the river is diverse and has about 15 species of fish. The most numerous are the barbel of Terek , fast-paced , Terek minnow , goldfish and Krynitsky's loach . The Tersky Podust, the Caucasian Chub, the carp, the pre-Caucasian dogovka are common. Occasionally, rainbow trout, catfish, perch, North Caucasian bleak, Caucasian elite and Amur chebachok are recorded. In spring streams, brook trout are still common.

According to the state water register of Russia, it belongs to the Western Caspian Basin District , the water management section of the river - the Terek from the confluence of the Urukh River to the confluence of the Malka River. The river basin is the rivers of the Caspian Sea basin between the Terek and Volga rivers ^[2] .

According to the geographic information system of water management zoning of the territory of the Russian Federation, prepared by the Federal Agency for Water Resources ^[2] :

• The code of the water body in the state water register is 07020000612008200005032
• Hydrological code (GI) - 108200503
• GI Volume Number - 08
• Issue on GI - 2

• The article uses information provided by the Federal Agency for Water Resources from the list of water bodies registered in the state water register as of March 29, 2009. List (rar-archive, 3.21 MB).
• Urwan River