Canals in Ukraine ( uk, Канали України) are mostly for irrigation or water supply. Most of them are supervised by the Canal Administration of the State Agency of water resources of Ukraine. As the rest of water resources canals compose the Water Fund of Ukraine and are included in the ''Water Cadastre (register) of Ukraine''.
Most of the canals are in the basins of the
Dnieper
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The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
and
Siversky Donets
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
, with some in the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
basin. Their main purpose is water supply, irrigation, and drainage of land; they are also used partially for fish farming and recreation.
One of the oldest operating canals in Ukraine is the
North Crimean Canal
The North Crimean Canal ( uk, Північно-Кримський канал, translit=Pivnichno-Krymskyi kanal, russian: Северо-Крымский канал, in the Soviet Union: North Crimean Canal of the Lenin's Komsomol of Ukraine) is a l ...
, which starts from the
Kakhovka Reservoir
The Kakhovka Reservoir (, ''Kakhovs′ke vodoskhovyshche'') is a water reservoir on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It was created in 1956, when the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was built. It is one of several reservoirs in the Dnieper reserv ...
on the Dnieper near
Nova Kakhovka
Nova Kakhovka ( uk, Нова́ Кахо́вка, ; russian: Новая Каховка) is a city in the central Kakhovka Raion region of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine currently under Russian occupation.
Nova Kakhovka is an important po ...
and stretches for across Northern Crimea and the
Kerch Peninsula
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine.
This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the pe ...
. Its construction started in 1957 for irrigation of the
Kherson Oblast steppe regions and
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, as well as water supply to
Simferopol
Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...
,
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
, other populated places, and the Kerch Industrial District. The canal is designed to pass per second of water. It provides water to the Krasnoznamianka, Chapli, Kolonchak, Krasnoperekopsk, Krasnohvardiyske, Pervomaiske, and other irrigation systems with a total area of over .
Equally important is the ''
Dnieper-Donbas Canal'', which is for water supply of
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Donets basin
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...]
as well as land irrigation. It starts from the
Dniprodzerzhynsk Water Reservoir on the Dnieper then runs through the valleys of the river Orel and
Orelka towards the
Krasnopavlivske Water Reservoir, then further to the Siversky Donets near the city of
Izyum
Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast ( province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban ...
. The first stage of the canal, which is over long, was built in 1970-1981. Next the canal passes almost to
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...
city and has a length of .
The ''
Siversky Donets - Donbas Canal'', designed to supply per second of water, was put into service in 1958.
The ''
Kakhovka Canal'' stretches from the Kakhovka Reservoir upstream of
Kakhovka
Kakhovka ( uk, Кахо́вка, ) is a port city on the Dnieper River in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, of southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of the Kakhovka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of
It ...
across the
Pontic steppe
Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to:
The Black Sea Places
* The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores
* Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores
* The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...
s almost to the
Molochna estuary (liman) and has a length of . The canal was constructed in 1980 for irrigation of agricultural lands. It is also used for water supply to populated places. Its flow rate is up to . Around the lands of
Askania Nova for environmental measures was built a vertical drainage around whole contour of the reserve.
The ''
Dnieper - Kryvyi Rih Canal'' stretches from the Kakhovka Reservoir near the village of Marianske (
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an oblast (province) of central-eastern Ukra ...
) towards the region of
Kryvyi Rih
Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. K ...
and has a total length of over . It is designed for water supply of
Kryvbas
:''Kryvbas'' ''may also refer to the FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, the football team in Kryvyi Rih. See also Kryvbas (disambiguation)''
Kryvbas (, full name Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin, ) is an important economic and historical region in central Ukraine ...
and irrigation of surrounding farmlands. It was built in 1957-1961 and reconstructed in 1975-1979. The total volume of water supplied by the canal for the purposes of water supply is , for irrigation - per year.
The ''
Dnieper-Inhulets Canal'' (
Kirovohrad Oblast
Kirovohrad Oblast ( uk, Кіровоградська область, translit=Kirovohradska oblast; also referred to as Kirovohradschyna — uk, Кіровоградщина) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the ...
) runs from the
Kremenchuk Water Reservoir on the Dnieper to the
Inhulets River
The Inhulets () is a river, a right tributary of the Dnieper, that flows through Ukraine. It has a length of 557 km and a drainage basin of 14,460 km².
The Inhulets has its source in the Dnieper Upland in a ravine (balka) to the we ...
, has a length of , and is used for irrigation and water supply.
Canals play a large role in the irrigation of agricultural lands. The biggest irrigation systems operate in the zone of the North Crimean Canal (irrigation area is over {{convert, 300000, ha, sqmi, abbr=on) in Crimea and Kherson Oblast.
External links
List of canalsat the State Agency of water resources of Ukraine.
* Kurhanevych, L.
Water cadastre'.
Water bodies of Ukraine: lakes, estuaries, reservoirs, marshes and canals
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