Location of the Laba River. Water balance studies of the Laba River basin
The Laba River is a small part of the water arteries of the Krasnodar Territory (basin area - 8134 sq. in.) but represents the largest tributary of the Kuban. Its banks are amazingly fertile and densely populated. The Laba Cossack passionately loves his nurse, Laba, and sings in his songs:
“Laba is a small river
She delighted us all,
She nourished, she nourished,
Equipped for service..."
It is less known than other Caucasian rivers, although it is the only one of all the rivers of the Krasnodar Territory (except for the Kuban) that has seen a steamship on its waters. In October 1875, the steamer "Nadezhda" climbed (50 versts along the bends) up the river to the station. Tenginskaya; This was during a time of low water, and yet even on riffles less than 3 feet there was no water. The main obstacle to navigation is the speed of the current, reaching from 6 to 8 feet per second, and in some places up to 10.
The Laba River consists of two rivers: Bolshaya Laba and Labenka (Malaya Laba), merging near the station. Kaladzhinskaya. The Greater Laba is formed by many streams (Azatsapis, Makera, Sancharo, etc.), some of which originate from under the glaciers of the Abytsha-Akhapyr peaks and the Tsagerker pass. Here it receives many tributaries, especially on the left side: Dzicheksh, Mamkhurts, Dyamkhurts, and the largest of them is Zakan, forming a beautiful valley along which the path goes through the Main Ridge to the Black Sea. On the right side, the Phiya tributary originates (10,600 ft.) higher than the Laba River itself. About 15 versts below the mouth of Phiya, the Bolshaya Laba River flows through the most beautiful Zagdan valley, which we have already talked about; Having left this valley, it continues to roll its waves with extraordinary speed through the gorges, which are now being blown up to improve the rafting of the timber. Near the former station The Psemyonovskaya valley expands and becomes even wider at the station. Akhmetovskaya. In general, the river bed The Big Laby is wide, deep and without sharp turns. The fall of the Bolshaya Laba to its junction with Labyonok is 24.5 feet per mile.
The Malaya Laba (Labyonok) river, separated from the Bolshaya Laba by the Dzhentu watershed, originates from the peaks of Aishkha and Pseashkha. After passing 40 miles through wooded, narrow gorges, Labyonok merges with the Urushten River, flowing on the left and not inferior in size to it. On the right side the Umpyr River flows into it, its upper reaches approaching the Zakan River, from which it is separated by the graceful Lugan ridge.
It is difficult to imagine a more stormy and capricious river than the Labyonok: it bubbles and rushes with incredible speed, sharply different from the calmer and majestic B. Laba. Below the village of Burny, Labyonok flows through the beautiful Shakhgireevsky gorge and comes out on a level place near the village of Psebayskaya. Labyonka's fall is 37 feet per mile.
After the connection of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba (Labyonka) rivers, it has a very fast flow, and its right bank rises significantly above the left. At the station The Vladimir right bank drops sharply, and both banks remain flat and low for about 90 versts, although neither one nor the other is flooded even with the largest floods of the Laba, except for a narrow, small strip near the river itself. Villages located along the river. Labe, are not subject to flooding, except for the villages of Zassovskaya and Kurgannaya, standing on the abandoned riverbeds of the Laba, as a result of which work is constantly required here to protect them from floods and bank erosion. Despite all the measures taken, there is always a fear that Laba might rush to the villages or cut them off from its fields, making a new channel for itself. In general, along this entire length, the Laba River is extremely fragmented into branches, forming countless islands covered with thin forest. Its width in such places reaches 50-100 fathoms, its depth is from 3 to 9 feet, and the entire space occupied by the islands is up to several miles wide. Temirgoevskaya, it collects all its waters into one wide (from 20 to 30 fathoms) channel, up to 12 feet deep. Near the station The right bank of Vozdvizhenskaya rises again and stretches as a continuous wall for 30 versts, where it decreases with ledges towards the river. Kuban. The length of the entire Laba (from the source of the Bolshaya Laba to its confluence with the Kuban) is about 250 versts, the length of the Bolshaya Laba to its junction with Labyonok is about 100 versts, and the length of Labyonok is about 80 versts. The bottom in the upper reaches is rocky, on average it is gravelly and sandy-clayey, covered with small pebbles, and in the lower reaches it is muddy, reminiscent of the river bottom. Kuban. In general, the Laba River in its lower reaches is extremely similar to the Kuban in all respects and even in the structure of its left swampy valley, which apparently lies below the banks.
On the right it takes on a river that is quite significant in length. Chamlyk (about 110 versts), which is formed near the station. Stubborn from the confluence of two rivers - Okart and Kharsa, originating in the western part of the Dzheltimes Heights and flowing in very deep ravines. In the lower reaches of the Chamlyk was previously extremely poor in water and was filled only in the spring; in the summer, he imagined himself as a series of puddles with spoiled water, so that the crowded villages along the river. Chamlyk suffered greatly from lack of water. In order to water Chamlyk, residents in the late 60s. They dug a canal, but since the beginning of the canal was made almost at a right angle to the main current of the Laba and, in addition, the bed of the canal passed near the river on loose soil, the water soon clogged it and did not reach Chamlyk. In 1873, residents of the station. Konstantinovskaya - Morev and Zababurin, at their own expense, corrected these shortcomings and successfully brought water in sufficient quantities from the Laba to the Chamlyk channel. This most useful artificial canal in the Krasnodar Territory was made by the residents themselves and at their own expense. He irrigated tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and saved tens of thousands of people from lack of water. The canal originates between the villages of Labinskaya and Rodnikovskaya and is 12 miles long. At the r. On the right side of the Chamlyk there is a tributary called Sinyukha, which dries up in summer and originates at the Dzheltimes Heights.
The left-bank tributaries of the Laba flow parallel to it almost along its entire length and flow into it at very sharp angles. The tributaries in the upper reaches are more abundant in water, fresh, fast and beautiful than the tributaries flowing into the Elbe in its middle reaches. The latter lengths flow in deep ravines through rich, black earth soil: their waters are cloudy and not fresh; The tributaries in the lower reaches of the Laba River, Krasnodar Territory, have the character of completely steppe rivers, in the summer they represent a series of puddles and ponds filled with rotten water with a barely noticeable flow.
Laba is the largest tributary of the Kuban River. Its beginning is considered to be the confluence of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers. The length of the Laba River itself is 214 km. The sources of the Bolshaya Laba River are the glaciers of the peak of Mount Abytskha. Malaya Laba originates at the snowy peaks of Aishkho and the Pseashkho glacier. The total area of glaciers feeding these rivers is about 15 square meters. km.
The drainage basin of the Laba River is not entirely symmetrical in outline. The left bank part of the basin is larger both in area and in the number of tributaries. In total, the Laba receives: 4776 tributaries (including the smallest). Their total length is a respectable 10,500 km. The largest left tributaries (counting from top to bottom) are: the Khodz, Chokhrak, Fars and Giaga rivers. The largest right-bank tributary is the Chamlyk River. Almost all tributaries of the Laba River are high-water during floods, and the rest of the time they become shallow and low-water. The nature of the Laba River valley, its flow, water regime and water chemistry change from source to mouth, as the river crosses a number of different geographical landscapes.
The Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers in the upper reaches laid their channels through areas of high-mountain communities composed of granites, gneisses and elantose-sand rocks. Their valleys here look like narrow, deep canyons, in which crystal clear waters rush swiftly and noisily, seething on rapids and rifts. These rivers then cross a belt of forested, high, folded mountain ranges composed of Paleozoic sandstones, shales and limestones. The wild rocky gorges of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers widen in places, forming picturesque mountain valleys. The beauty of the Shakh-Gireyevsky gorge of the Malaya Laba River below the village of Burny, the Zagedan Valley, is unique. Its slopes are covered with dense spruce and fir forests of giant Centennial trees. Many of them are up to 3 - 4 girths thick, several tens of meters in height. The valley is surrounded by bizarre clusters of huge rocks and mountain peaks, on which snow turns white even in summer. In the middle of the valley, the beautiful Big Laba quickly carries its cold, clear waters with a cheerful roar.
Near the village of Kaladzhinskaya, the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers merge, forming the high-water Laba, which has some similarities with the Kuban River. The valley of the Laba River here is already quite wide and has three terraces. The water regime of the Laba River is unique. On the Malaya and Bolshaya Laba rivers, floods are observed in the warm half of the year, which is explained by the melting of high-mountain snow and glaciers, because there are 48 glaciers in the Laba river basin.
Groundwater also plays a significant role in feeding the Laba River. In some places powerful springs emerge in the river valley. In winter, the Laba River freezes for 1–3 months, but in the upper reaches of the rapids a continuous ice cover does not form.
Laba is a river that is famous for its unbridled character, rapid flow and indescribable picturesqueness. It is especially popular among tourists traveling in the Caucasus Mountains. Local residents widely use the Laba waters for economic purposes. This body of water can be confidently called the main one, without which the landscape of the European part of Russia would not be so colorful.
Laba (river): where is it located?
This reservoir is one of the most significant in the Transcaucasian region of Russia. Laba - which flows through two regions: Adygea and Krasnodar Territory. It originates from the villages of Krasny Gai and Free World. It was formed by the confluence of two rivers: the Malaya and Bolshaya Laba. Streams that turn into a huge river flow from the glaciers of the Main Caucasus Range.
Laba is a river in the Krasnodar region that flows through flat terrain, in the Adygei region - through lowlands and high mountain gorges.
Two large cities were built on its banks: Labinsk and Ust-Labinsk. From the side of the Krasnodar Territory, on the Labe there are the villages of Phii, Rozhkao, Zagedan, and the village of Asia. In the Adyghe region, there are many small villages and villages nearby: Natyrbovo, Egerukhai, Pshizo, Khatukai.
origin of name
The Adyghe people nicknamed Laba “Labe”. There is no definite version of why the river has such an unusual name. It has been suggested that the word was borrowed from the Iranian language, in which “lab” means “shore”. From the language of the Svans, neighbors of the Caucasians, “labna” is translated as “source”. interprets the word “laba” as a bell. If we draw a parallel and collect all the variants of origin and translation together, we get the literary affectionate “ringing river”.
general characteristics
This river has the following dimensions:
- length - 215 km;
- length including tributaries - 10,500 km;
- depth - from 1.2 m to 2 m;
- width - from 35 m to 200 m;
- pool area - 12.5 km²;
- flow speed - from 0.7 m/sec to 1.2 m/sec.
The upper course of the river is rapid. The tributaries of the Laba, formed in the mountains and at their foot, gurgle noisily and flow through bottomless gorges. The lower reaches, on the contrary, are moderate, with sloping banks and sandy beaches.
Laba is a river that has a huge number of tributaries, their total number exceeds 4000. Kuksa, Chamlyk, Giaga are considered the largest tributaries of Laba.
The river has a lot of water, but in autumn it becomes significantly shallower. With the arrival of spring, glaciers and mountain snow begin to melt, and the Laba River increases in volume. The amount of precipitation that falls is of great importance for the spill. There is snow in the valleys of the gorges even in summer. The river is fed by underwater waters.
There are more than 45 glaciers. In some places, powerful underground springs gush out in the Laba Valley. The surface of the river becomes covered with a crust of ice in the second half of December during severe cold weather. If the winter is warm, Laba does not freeze at all. It thaws in late February or early March.
Laba is a river that for many years served as an irrigation means for flooded fields; in the 70s, rice was grown on its banks. Now there are no fields, but its main function has been preserved: it is used for economic needs.
Flora and fauna
In areas where the Laba River begins to flow, impenetrable spruce forests predominate. Some trees reach several tens of meters in height. Poplars, willows, ash trees, perennial oaks, and shrubs like thorns and hawthorns grow in dense forests. The flora growing along the banks of the river belongs to the steppe species. Typical plants are wheatgrass, mint, and beans. wide, swampy in places. There are small islands, completely overgrown with trees.
The waters of the Laba are inhabited by trout, crucian carp, roach, and chub.
Tourism
Laba is a river in the Krasnodar Territory, a photo of which shows that it is popular among tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. It is used for kayaking and canoeing, fishing and excursions.
Highways were built along the river. The largest of them are Psebaya-Mostovsky, M29-Labinsk, Rodnikovoe Highway. The only bridge built across the Laba connects Adygea with the Krasnodar Territory and stretches 4.4 km in length. Access to the river is open and free.
Laba is a river favored by fishermen. Some of them engage in fishing professionally using special equipment. Along the banks of the Laba, hotels, sanatoriums, recreation areas have been built, and beach areas have been equipped. Cyclists have noticed the river and regularly ride along its banks. In late spring and summer, vehicles are available for rent at numerous tourist centers.
Waterfalls
Along this river there are several places that are especially popular. These are waterfalls that have become a landmark of the reservoir. They are often visited by tourists to admire the unique views of nature.
The Kapustina waterfall, located between the villages of Nikitino and Kutan, is the largest in the entire district. The purest water falls from a height of 54 meters. The place where the water touches the cliff is covered with perennial moss, and a stream flows at the foot of the rocks. Visitors to this wonderful place stand under the waterfall and enjoy the powerful splashes of huge water flows.
The height of the Nikitinsky waterfall, the second largest in the area, is 46 meters. The waterfall is located in the valley of the Laba River. Ledges made of weighty stones, framed with moss, attract the eye. Its noise can be heard several hundred meters away. This natural site is not inferior to the Kapustina waterfall in terms of attendance. It is hardly possible to admire the beauty of nature alone at the Nikitinsky Falls.
River "Laba" The Laba River is the largest tributary of the Kuban River. Its beginning is considered to be the confluence of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers. The length of the Laba River itself is 214 km. The sources of the Bolshaya Laba River are the glaciers of the peak of Mount Abytskha. Malaya Laba originates at the snowy peaks of Aishkho and the Pseashkho glacier. The total area of glaciers feeding these rivers is about 15 square meters. km.
The drainage basin of the Laba River is not entirely symmetrical in outline. The left bank part of the basin is larger both in area and in the number of tributaries. In total, the Laba receives: 4776 tributaries (including the smallest). Their total length is a respectable 10,500 km. The largest left tributaries (counting from top to bottom) are: the Khodz, Chokhrak, Fars and Giaga rivers. The largest right-bank tributary is the Chamlyk River. Almost all tributaries of the Laba River are high-water during floods, and the rest of the time they become shallow and low-water. The nature of the Laba River valley, its flow, water regime and water chemistry change from source to mouth, as the river crosses a number of different geographical landscapes.
The Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers in the upper reaches laid their channels through areas of high-mountain communities composed of granites, gneisses and elantose-sand rocks. Their valleys here look like narrow, deep canyons, in which crystal clear waters rush swiftly and noisily, seething on rapids and rifts. These rivers then cross a belt of forested, high, folded mountain ranges composed of Paleozoic sandstones, shales and limestones. The wild rocky gorges of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers widen in places, forming picturesque mountain valleys. The beauty of the Shakh-Gireyevsky gorge of the Malaya Laba River below the village of Burny, the Zagedan Valley, is unique. Its slopes are covered with dense spruce and fir forests of giant Centennial trees. Many of them are up to 3 - 4 girths thick, several tens of meters in height. The valley is surrounded by bizarre clusters of huge rocks and mountain peaks, on which snow turns white even in summer. In the middle of the valley, the beautiful Big Laba quickly carries its cold, clear waters with a cheerful roar.
Near the village of Kaladzhinskaya, the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers merge, forming the high-water Laba, which has some similarities with the Kuban River. The valley of the Laba River here is already quite wide and has three terraces. The water regime of the Laba River is unique. On the Malaya and Bolshaya Laba rivers, floods are observed in the warm half of the year, which is explained by the melting of high-mountain snow and glaciers, because there are 48 glaciers in the Laba river basin.
Groundwater also plays a significant role in feeding the Laba River. In some places powerful springs emerge in the river valley. In winter, the Laba River freezes for 1–3 months, but in the upper reaches of the rapids a continuous ice cover does not form.
The Laba River flows through the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia (Bolshaya and Malaya Laba), the Krasnodar Territory, and the Republic of Adygea (the mouth of the Laba River). It is a left tributary of the Kuban River. The length of the river is 214 km (with Bolshaya Laba - 347 km), the basin area is 12,500 km². Laba is formed near the villages of Krasny Gai and Free World by the confluence of the Bolshaya Laba and Malaya Laba rivers, which originate from glaciers on the northern slope of the Main Caucasus Range. Further to the northwest it flows along the border: from the left bank are the Koshekhablsky, Shovgenovsky, Krasnogvardeysky districts of the Republic of Adygea, on the right are the Labinsky, Kurganinsky, Ust-Labinsky districts of the Krasnodar Territory. Near the village of Khatukai, Krasnogvardeisky district of Adygea, it flows into the Kuban River.
In the upper reaches of the Laba and its tributaries there are turbulent mountain rivers flowing in deep gorges. In the lower reaches of the river the banks are gentle and the flow is calm. The river is fed by mixed sources: snow, glaciers and rain. The average flow rate near the mouth is 95.7 m³/sec. The laba freezes at the end of December, but not every year; it opens at the end of February - beginning of March. Used for irrigation. The length of the river together with the Bolshaya Laba is 347 km. The length of Laba itself is 214 km. The width of the river is 35-200 m. The area of the basin is approximately 12,500 km². Current speed is from 0.7 to 1.2 m/s. Depth from 1.2 to 2 m.
The total number of tributaries of the Laba River, including small rivulets and streams, is 4,776. The total length of the tributaries is 10,500 km. Almost all tributaries are high in water; in the autumn period August-September they become shallow. The largest tributaries, starting from the upper reaches of the river and following downstream, are on the left: Malaya Laba, Khodz, Chekhrak, Ulka, Giaga, Psenafa and Fars. Large right tributaries: Bolshaya Laba, Kuksa, Chamlyk.
In the upper reaches, the Laba and its tributaries are stormy waters of mountain type. In the lower reaches the river is calm. The river is fed by mixed sources: glacial, snow and rain. There are about 48 glaciers in the Laba River basin. Groundwater also plays an important role in feeding the Laba River. In some places powerful springs emerge in the river valley.
The laba is covered with a layer of ice at the end of December (not every year), ice drifts at the end of February - beginning of March. Laba is characterized by a spring-summer increase in water level, caused by the melting of glaciers, high-mountain snow and summer rains. The minimum water level on the river is usually in August-September.
On its flat part, the Laba receives many tributaries, most of them are regulated, their flow consists of strings of ponds (from the Krasnodar side) or irrigation canals (from the Adyghe side). At the same time, the rice paddies built in the lower reaches of the Laba in the 70s of the 20th century are currently not in use.
In the upper reaches the river flows in a deep gorge, the banks are steep and steep in places up to 2-4 m high. In the lower reaches the banks are flat, at the mouth there are floodplains (swampy and/or covered with moisture-loving vegetation). In the upper reaches of the river there are dense spruce-fir forests. Also found in forests are: ash, oak, elm, willow, poplar, and willow. In the undergrowth you can find: blackthorn, hawthorn, elderberry and other shrubs. Among small plants, steppe vegetation predominates: wheatgrass, mint, legumes, timothy, bluegrass and other herbs. The wide floodplain is dissected by branches and oxbow lakes, which have formed many low islands, overgrown with forests and shrubs, and in places with wetlands. In the valleys, the lands are plowed into fields.
In the upper reaches of the Laba River (on the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba), rafting on the river using special equipment and fishing are developed. Types of fish living in the river: chub, asp, trout, roach, crucian carp. Cycling along the riverbed is popular. On the Laba River there are recreation centers, tourist centers and a sanatorium of the same name.
Almost along the entire river along the Laba there are roads along which regular buses run. In the upper reaches of the Laba on the left side are the highways Psebay-Mostovsky, Khodz-Mostovsky, P256, Krasnogvardeyskoye-Ulyap-Zarevo, Khatukay-Nekrasovskaya-Kurganinsk; on the right side of the river: Labinsk-Akhmetovskaya, M29–Labinsk, Rodnikovskoye Highway, Ust-Labinsk-Kurganinsk, so there are no problems with access roads to the river.
On the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia, before the confluence of the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba, on its banks there are the villages of Phiya, Damkhurts, Zagedan, Rozhkao, Asian; villages of Psemen, Kurdzhinovo, Ershov, Predgornoye, Podskalnoye. Then the Bolshaya Laba flows through the territory of the Krasnodar Territory - the first settlement is the village of Akhmetovskaya. At the village of Kaladzhinskaya the Bolshaya and Malaya Laba rivers merge. Upon exiting the mountain-forest zone, the Laba flows through the flat territory of the Krasnodar Territory. After the urban-type settlement of Mostovskaya, the border of the region with Adygea passes along the river. On the right (Krasnodar) side are the cities of Labinsk and Kurganinsk, a number of villages: Zassovskaya, Vladimirskaya, Rodnikovskaya, Temirgoevskaya, Vozdvizhenskaya, Tenginskaya, Novolabinskaya, Nekrasovskaya. On the Adyghe side there are Adyghe auls, Russian villages and towns: Khodz, Natyrbovo, Koshekhabl, Egerukhai, Sokolov, Pshizo, Dzambichi, Saratovsky, Khatukai. Opposite the confluence of the Laba and the Kuban is the city of Ust-Labinsk.