A River Runs Through It Qartulad

[Urbano Bozman]

Theearliest people in recorded history known to have inhabited the area are the Finnic people. The word Neva is widespread in Finnic languages, having quite cognate meanings. In Finnish it means poor fen, in Karelian: watercourse and in Estonian (as nva): waterway.[2]

The valley is lined with glacial and post-glacial sediments and has changed little over 2,500 years.[5] The delta was formed at that time, technically a pseudodelta, as not from accumulation of river material but by scouring past sediments.[6]

In the Neva basin, rainfall greatly exceeds evaporation; the latter accounts for only 37.7 percent of the water consumption from the Neva and the remaining 62.3 percent is water runoff.[8] Since 1859, the largest volume of 116 cubic kilometres (28 cu mi) was observed in 1924 and the lowest in 1900 at 40.2 cubic kilometres (9.6 cu mi).[6] The average annual discharge is 78.9 cubic kilometres (18.9 cu mi) or 2,500 cubic metres per second (88,000 cu ft/s) on average.[1] Due to the uniform water flow from Lake Ladoga to the Neva over the whole year, there are almost no floods and corresponding water rise in the spring. The Neva freezes throughout from early December to early April. The ice thickness is 0.3 to 0.4 metres (1.0 to 1.3 ft) within Saint Petersburg and 0.5 to 0.6 metres (1.6 to 2.0 ft) in other areas. Ice congestion may form in winter in the upper reaches of the river, this sometimes causes upstream floods. Of the total ice volume of Lake Ladoga, 10.6 cubic kilometres (2.5 cu mi), less than 5 percent enters the Neva.[8] The average summer water temperature is 17 to 20 C (63 to 68 F), and the swimming season lasts only about 1.5 months. The water is fresh, with medium turbidity; the average salinity is 61.3 mg/L and the calcium bicarbonate content is 7 mg/L.[6]

The basin area of Neva is 5,000 km2,[9] including the pools of Lake Ladoga and Onega (281,000 km2). The basin contains 26,300 lakes and has a complex hydrological network of more than 48,300 rivers, however only 26 flow directly into Neva. The main tributaries are Mga, Tosna, Izhora, Slavyanka and Murzinka on the left, and Okhta and Chyornaya Rechka on the right side of Neva.[6]

The hydrological network had been altered by the development of Saint Petersburg through its entire history. When it was founded in 1703, the area was low and swampy and required construction of canals and ponds for drainage. The earth excavated during their construction was used to raise the city. At the end of the 19th century, the delta of Neva consisted of 48 rivers and canals and 101 islands. The most significant distributaries of the delta are listed in the table. Before construction of the Obvodny Canal, the left tributary of that area was the Volkovka; its part at the confluence is now called Monastyrka. The Ladoga Canal starts at the root of Neva and connects it along the southern coast of Lake Ladoga with the Volkhov.[10]

Some canals of the delta were filled over time, so that only 42 islands remained by 1972, all within the city limits of St. Petersburg. The largest islands are Vasilyevsky at 1,050 hectares (2,600 acres), Petrogradsky at 570 hectares (1,400 acres), Krestovsky at 420 hectares (1,000 acres), and Dekabristov at 410 hectares (1,000 acres); others include Zayachy, Yelagin and Kamenny Islands.[10] At the source of the Neva, near Shlisselburg, there are the two small islands of Orekhovy and Fabrichny. Island Glavryba lies up the river, above the town of Otradnoye.

There is almost no aquatic vegetation in Neva. The river banks mostly consist of sand, podsol, gleysols, peat, and boggy peat soils.[12] Several centuries ago, the whole territory of the Neva lowland was covered by pine and spruce mossy forests. They were gradually reduced by the fires and cutting for technical needs. Extensive damage was caused during World War II: in Saint Petersburg, the forests were reduced completely, and in the upper reaches down to 40 to 50 percent.[13] Forest were replanted after the war with spruce, pine, cedar, Siberian larch, oak, Norway maple, elm, America, ash, apple tree, mountain ash and other species. The shrubs include barberry, lilac, jasmine, hazel, honeysuckle, hawthorn, rose hip, viburnum, juniper, elder, shadbush and many others.[14]

In St. Petersburg, along the Neva, there are many gardens and parks, including the Summer Garden, Field of Mars, Rumyantsev, Smolny, Alexander Gardens, Garden of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and many others.[10]

Because of the rapid flow, cold water and lack of quiet pools and aquatic vegetation the diversity of fish species in Neva is small. Permanent residents include such undemanding to environment species as perch, ruffe and roaches. Many fish species are transitory, of which commercial value have smelt, vendace and partly salmon.[15]

Floods in St. Petersburg are usually caused by the overflow of the delta of Neva and by surging water in the eastern part of Neva Bay. They are registered when the water rises above 160 centimetres (63 in) with respect to a gauge at the Mining Institute. More than 300 floods occurred after the city was founded in 1703.[16][17][18] Three of them were catastrophic: on 7 November 1824, when water rose to 421 centimetres (166 in); on 23 September 1924 when it reached 369 centimetres (145 in), and 10 September 1777 when it rose to 321 centimetres (126 in).[15] However, a much larger flood of 760 centimetres (300 in) was described in 1691.[19]

The Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia classifies the Neva as a "heavily polluted" river. The main pollutants include copper, zinc, manganese, nitrites and nitrogen. The dirtiest tributaries of the Neva are the Mga, Slavyanka, Ohta, and Chernaya.[21] Hundreds of factories pour wastewater into the Neva within St. Petersburg, and petroleum is regularly transported along the river. The annual influx of pollutants is 80,000 tonnes,[22] and the heaviest polluters are Power-and-heating Plant 2 (Russian: ТЭЦ-2), "Plastpolymer" and "Obukhov State Plant". The biggest polluters in the Leningrad Oblast are the cities of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, as well as the Kirov thermal power station. More than 40 oil spills are registered on the river every year.[23]

Many sites of ancient people, up to nine thousand years old, were found within the territory of the Neva basin. It is believed that around twelve thousand years BC, Finnic people (Votes and Izhorians) moved to this area from the Ural Mountains.[25]

In the 8th and 9th centuries AD, the area was inhabited by the East Slavs who were mainly engaged in slash and burn agriculture, hunting and fishing. From the 8th to 13th centuries, Neva provided a waterway from Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire. In the 9th century, the area belonged to Veliky Novgorod.[26] The Neva was already mentioned in the Life of Alexander Nevsky (13th century).[27] At that time, Veliky Novgorod was engaged in nearly constant wars with Sweden. A major battle occurred on 15 July 1240 at the confluence of the Izhora and Neva Rivers. The Russian army, led by the 20-year-old Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, aimed to stop the planned Swedish invasion. The Swedish army was defeated; the prince showed personal courage in combat and received the honorary name of "Nevsky".[28][29]

From 1727 to 1916, the temporary Isaakievsky pontoon bridge was early constructed between the modern Saint Isaac's Square and Vasilievsky Island. A similar, but much longer Trinity pontoon bridge, which spanned 500 metres (1,600 ft), was brought from the Summer Garden to Petrogradsky Island. The first permanent bridge across Neva, Blagoveshchensky Bridge, was opened in 1850, and the second, Liteyny Bridge, came into operation in 1879.[6]

In 1858, a "Joint-stock company St. Petersburg water supply" was established, which built the first water supply network in the city. A two-stage water purification station was constructed in 1911. The development of the sewerage system began only in 1920, after the October Revolution, and by 1941, the sewerage network was 1,130 kilometres (700 mi) long.[6]

Every winter from 1895 to 1910, electric tramways were laid on the ice of the river, connecting the Senate Square, Vasilievsky island, Palace Embankment and other parts of the city. The power was supplied through the rails and a top cable supported by wooden piles frozen into the ice. The service was highly successful and ran without major accidents except for a few failures in the top electrical wires. The trams ran at the speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) and could carry 20 passengers per carriage. The carriages were converted from the used horsecars. About 900,000 passengers were transported over a regular season between 20 January and 21 March. The sparking of contacts at the top wires amused spectators in the night.[31][32][33][34]

The first concrete bridge across Neva, the Volodarsky Bridge, was built in 1936.[35] During World War II, from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944, Leningrad was in the devastating German Siege. On 30 August 1941, the German army captured Mga and came to Neva. On 8 September Germans captured Shlisselburg and cut all land communications and waterways to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad). The siege was partly relieved in January 1943, and ended on 27 January 1944.[26]

To the west of Shlisselburg, an oil pipeline runs under the river. The pipeline is part of the Baltic Pipeline System, which provides oil from Timan-Pechora plate, West Siberia, Ural, Kazakhstan and Primorsk to the Gulf of Finland. The 774-metre (2,539 ft) long pipeline lies 7 to 9 metres (23 to 30 ft) below the river bottom and delivers about 42 million tonnes of oil a year.[38]

Near the Ladozhsky Bridge there is an underwater tunnel to host a gas pipeline Nord Stream 1. The tunnel has a diameter of 2 metres (6.6 ft) and a length of 750 metres (2,460 ft) and is laid at a maximum depth of 25 metres (82 ft).[39]

Neva is the main source of water (96 percent) of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. From 26 June 2009, St. Petersburg started processing the drinking water with ultraviolet light, abandoning the use of chlorine for disinfection.[40] The Neva also has developed fishery, both commercial and recreational.[7]

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