Yauza (river)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox river The Yauza (Template:Langx) is a river in Moscow and Mytishchi, Russia, a left and largest tributary of the Moskva in the Russian capital. It originates in the Losiny Ostrov National Park northeast of Moscow, flows through Mytishchi, enters Moscow in the Medvedkovo District and flows through the city in an irregular, meandering, generally north-south direction. The Yauza joins the Moskva River in Tagansky District just west of Tagansky Hill, now marked by the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building. Valleys of the Yauza, from the MKAD beltway in the north to the Moscow-Yaroslavl railway west of Sokolniki Park, are protected as natural reserves.<ref name=ENM>Yauza in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997</ref>
The Yauza has been mentioned in Russian chronicles since 1156;<ref name=POH/> the exact origin of the name is unknown. Moscow crossed its former natural eastern boundary (marked by the Yauza) in the beginning of the 16th century.<ref name=ZG291/> The banks of the Yauza within the Garden Ring were densely urbanized by the middle of the 17th century; upstream valleys housed suburban residences of the House of Romanov, from Mikhail to Catherine II.<ref>Catherine did commission a palace in Lefortovo, but has not ever been there actually.</ref> Settlements along the Yauza (German Quarter, Lefortovo, Preobrazhenskoye) played a significant role in the history of Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries made the Yauza "the biggest gutter for waste in Moscow".<ref name=C546>Colton, p. 546</ref> In the 2000s the ecology improved, with the closing or conversion of old factories and cleanup efforts by the city government. In 2007 the Yauza waters were reclassified from "dirty" to "polluted" status,<ref name=R20071/> but in 2008 the trend reversed and pollution in the Yauza exceeded its 2006 levels.<ref name=R20081/> As of 2008, Yauza water passing the Moscow city boundary is rated as "polluted", and reaches a "very dirty" level at its inlet.<ref name=R20082>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.79</ref> Untreated surface runoff in the Central Administrative District remains the main source of pollution.<ref name=R20084/>
Geology
The Yauza is arguably one of the most ancient European rivers. A proto-Yauza River first appeared in Permian-Triassic period, at which time it flowed to the east of its present riverbed, down today's Izmailovo Gully. After being periodically submerged during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the region finally became land in the Tertiary period. Due to minor elevation changes, the Yauza diverted into its present course, with its former riverbed taken over by the present-day Serebryanka, which forms part of Yauza basin and flows in the westward direction opposite to the original Yauza.<ref>Yu.Nasimovich</ref>
Geography
The Yauza is Template:Convert long, and has a drainage basin of Template:Convert.<ref name=gvr>«Река ЯУЗА», Russian State Water Registry</ref> It consists of three parts:
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The Yauza collects waters from many tributaries, most of them confined to underground sewers (e.g. Rachka, Rybenka and Khapilovka). The few that remain on the surface, at least partially, are (north to south):<ref>Names, lengths and areas as in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997.</ref>
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The flow of the Yauza is regulated (particularly in winter)<ref name=K1/> and reinforced with water from the Volga that reaches the city through the Moscow Canal.<ref name=K1>Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy pp. 534. The first occurrence of Yauza on this page refers to the subject of this article; Yauza Reservoir mentioned further on the same page is based on a different river also called Yauza (tributary of Gzhat River).</ref> 80 million cubic meters<ref name=R2001p50>State of environment in Moscow in 2000–2001, p. 50. For comparison, Moskva River receives 600 million cubic meters.</ref> of Volga water is sourced each year from the Khimki Reservoir in northwest Moscow and fed through underground pipes and an open channel to Golovinsky Ponds and the Likhoborka River (a tributary of the Yauza).<ref name=ENM/> The water level in the lower Yauza is regulated by the Pererva Dam (Template:Coord) on the Moskva River, and by the locks (Template:Coord) on the Yauza itself east of Kursky Rail Terminal. Raised water levels in the downtown portion of the Yauza basin led to long-term flooding and death of trees deep inside Losiny Ostrov.<ref>IUCN 1995, p. 46</ref>
Within the city of Moscow the Yauza is spanned by 21 road bridges, five railroad bridges, one dedicated tram bridge, two Moscow Metro bridges, numerous pedestrian bridges and the historical Rostokino Aqueduct. Spring floods due to low clearance under old bridges were common, with four in the 1950s alone (1951, 1952, 1955 and 1957); they were practically eliminated when these bridges were rebuilt to modern standards.<ref>Navodneniya (Template:Langx) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997</ref> The most recent flash flood on the Yauza occurred August 14, 2003, following a record-setting rainfall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Yauza and its valleys are not particularly prone to the landslides and erosion common in the western and southern districts of Moscow. There were two minor landslides on the Yauza in 2008, compared with 40 on the Chertanovka River and 33 on the Gorodnya River.<ref>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.186</ref>
There is no commercial or recreational shipping, although the river is accessible to small motor boats as far as Preobrazhenskaya Square<ref name=ENM/> (Template:Coord).
History
Prehistory to the Time of Troubles
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The first mention of the Yauza (as Auza) in Russian chronicles is directly connected to the foundation of Moscow: according to the chronicles, in 1156 Yury Dolgoruky "founded Moscow at the estuary of Neglinnaya above the Yauza"<ref name=POH>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=C14/> on the site owned by Stepan Kuchka and known through another chronicle since 1147. There is no generally accepted etymology for Yauza or Auza. Similar toponyms (Auzas, Auzes, Auzi) exist in modern Latvia; the Baltic origins of Yauza are generally accepted but have not been proven.<ref>Paschalov 2008</ref>
Medieval Moscow grew from its Kremlin primarily in a northeasterly direction, towards the Yauza.<ref name=C14>Colton, p. 14</ref> St. Andronik Monastery on the Yauza (established in 1357) formed the eastern defence arc, together with the Pokrovsky and Novospassky monasteries. The Yauza was used as a commercial waterway from Moscow to Vladimir until the 16th century; boats that reached the upper Yauza were dragged over land to the Klyazma River. After the fire of 1494, Ivan III of Russia set up his country residence on the western bank of the Yauza in Vorontsovo<ref name=BG309>Pamyatniki Moskvy. Bely Gorod, p. 309</ref> (Template:Coord). During the same period potters, blacksmiths and other craftsmen deemed a fire hazard were evicted from Moscow proper onto the opposite, eastern bank of the Yauza (the present-day area of Taganka Square),<ref name=ZG291>Pamyatniki Moskvy. Zemlyanoy Gorod, pp. 291, 295</ref> thus beginning the industrialization of the river.
17th and 18th centuries
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Slobodas (settlements) of metalworkers' guilds expanded, and in the 17th century Taganka became the most densely populated, remote area of the city of Moscow.<ref name=ZG291/> The lower Yauza was used by numerous watermills and public baths tending to the growing population.<ref name=ZG291/>
Suburban valleys of the Yauza also flourished under the early Romanovs. Tsar Mikhail of Russia (reigned 1613–1645) established his country palace in Rubtsovo (Template:Coord) and his former rival Prince Dmitry Pozharsky (1577–1642) lived further out, in Medvedkovo on the Yauza (Template:Coord). Alexis I of Russia (reigned 1645–1676) established a chain of country residencies in Preobrazhenskoye and Alekseevskoye (Template:Coord) on the Yauza, and Izmaylovo Estate on its Serebryanka tributary. In 1653 Alexis yielded to the pressure of Orthodox clergy and expelled Catholics and Protestants from Moscow; they resettled in the German Quarter on the eastern bank of the Yauza, isolated from the city by the marshes around the Kokuy and Chechora streams.
Tsar Peter I (reigned 1682–1725) established his own headquarters in Preobrazhenskoye, and was a regular guest in the German Quarter. He neglected his father's palaces, instead concentrating on the military (Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment, established 1687) and supporting the industries spreading on both banks of the river. Bartolomeo Rastrelli erected Annenhof, a summer residence for empress Anna of Russia, in Lefortovo in 1731. Annenhof burnt down in 1746 and was eventually replaced by Catherine's Palace (Template:Coord), designed by Giacomo Quarenghi; the palace now houses a military academy,<ref name=B218>Brooke, p. 218</ref> and the former palace gardens have become a public park. Elizabeth of Russia built her country palace in Rubtsovo, on the site of Mikhail's former residence (Template:Coord), from 1735 to 1743.
The Old Believers, a persecuted religious minority, were allowed to practice their beliefs in two isolated communities east of the Yauza (Rogozhskoye Cemetery and Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery)<ref>Brooke, p. 198</ref> beginning in the 1770s. Edinoverie, a moderate branch of Old Believers in communion with the official Orthodox Church, built a large church complex on a high eastern bank of Yauza in Lefortovo (Template:Coord).
In 1779 Catherine II authorized the construction of Moscow's first water-supply network. Water from underground aquifers in the upper Yauza basin flowed to downtown Moscow through underground pipes, surface canals and an aqueduct which crossed the Yauza valley in Rostokino. After numerous delays and setbacks, the system was commissioned in 1804 and operated into the 20th century; the city of Mytishchi continues to use Yauza aquifers.<ref> Mytishchinsky vodoprovod (Template:Langx) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997 </ref>
Industrialization
State-run factories established by Peter I on the Yauza provided the seed for a chain of private factories; by the end of the 18th century significant industrial clusters emerged in Lefortovo and former German Quarter (then practically devoid of Western-European influence). In 1846, pollution from these mills prompted Moscow governor Aleksey Shcherbatov to survey the banks of the Yauza and enforce administrative action against the offenders.<ref>Shcherbatov, Aleksey Grigoryevich (Template:Langx) in Moskva. Encyclopedia 1997</ref>
Industrialization of the Yauza outside of the Garden Ring limits increased with the advent of railroads; within the Ring, the banks of the Yauza were the only heavily industrialized area.<ref>Colton, p. 46</ref> A major hub of three railway stations emerged north from the Yauza in the third quarter of the 19th century. The dense rail network helped establish the eastern perimeter of Moscow (Basmanny, Lefortovo, Rogozhskoye and Sokolniki) as "the fastest growing and the most variegated area, holding dozens of textile and garment factories but also machinery enterprises and Moscow's one steel mill."<ref>Colton, p. 47</ref>
The railroad infrastructure in Krasnoselsky District, a steady source of municipal revenue,<ref>In the end of 1880s City Hall, headed by mayor Nikolay Alekseyev, capitalized on the railroad boom by taking control of profitable warehouse operations between Kazansky Rail Terminal and Yauza. By 1901 municipal businesses contributed 27% of city revenue (55% by 1913). - Orobey et al., pp. 254-255</ref> was threatened by regular floods on numerous tributaries of the Yauza.<ref name=S301>Sytin, p. 301</ref> This risk, along with the drive to free up land for development, led to the first modern flood control measures in the Yauza basin. Red Pond (Template:Coord), connected to the Yauza by the Chechora River, was drained and converted to municipal rail yards in 1900–1911.<ref>Orobey et al., p. 449</ref> During the same period, the Chechora was diverted into an underground sewer<ref name="S301" /> and the Yauza was spanned by new bridges.<ref>Colton, p. 55</ref>
Higher education along the Yauza goes back to the Imperial Technical College, established in 1830<ref>Colton, p. 36</ref> and now known as Moscow State Technical University. The present college community around MSTU includes Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics, the Military University in Lefortovo, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, the State University Of Land Use Planning, Moscow State Pedagogical University and others in Basmanny District.
20th century
TsAGI (the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), established in 1918 in the former German Quarter,<ref>Duffy, p. 10</ref> (Template:Coord) became a seed for one of two aircraft-industry clusters in Moscow.<ref name=C444/><ref>The other sprawled in the former Khodynka Field and Fili - see Colton, pp. 443-444</ref> An aircraft-engine plant (the present-day NPO Salyut) was established on the opposite bank in 1926.<ref name=C444>Colton, p. 444</ref><ref>Colton, p. 212</ref> Andrey Tupolev's design firm moved out of TsAGI into his own premises on the Yauza (Template:Coord) in 1936;<ref>Duffy, pp. 13, 21</ref> by 1945, the Tupolev staff reached 5,226.<ref>Duffy, p. 24</ref> The postwar period added the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant in Sokolniki and the Lyulka rocket-design bureau (now NPO Saturn) in Babushkinsky District.<ref name=C444/>
Joseph Stalin's 1935 Moscow Reconstruction Plan called for the creation of an inner ring of navigable waterways in northern Moscow.<ref name=GP/><ref name=MAP/> The proposed Northern Shipping Canal (Template:Langx) connectingKhimki Reservoir with the Yauza<ref name=GP/> would have made the latter navigable up to Sviblovo;<ref name=MAP>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Yauza valley north from Sviblovo would have been flooded into a broad reservoir.<ref name=MAP/> A system of four<ref name=MAP/> sets of locks would gradually reduce the water level; the river itself was to be deepened and widened into a navigable canal with granite embankments and broad, riverside highways.<ref name=GP>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Further industrialization of the Yauza was prohibited; the embankments of the Moskva and the Yauza were zoned for high-profile public and residential buildings.<ref name=GP/>
The Northern Canal, initially planned for completion in 1939,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was never built; instead, the water level in the Yauza was reinforced through a low-cost water pipe connecting the Khimki Reservoir and the Likhoborka River (right-side tributary of the Yauza). A single set of locks (instead of four), designed by Georgy Golts, was built in 1940. The river was widened and flanked with embankments according to plan, albeit at a slower pace.
The social and zoning policies made in 1935 were soon discarded; industrialization of the Yauza drainage basin continued unchecked through the Soviet period, particularly in the "reviled south-east quadrant" not obstructed by park and forest reserves.<ref name=C515>Colton, p. 515</ref> The territory immediately east and southeast of the Yauza became "the city's worst rust and smokestack belt".<ref name=C515/> The "problem child of the first Five Year Plan" continued to grow until the economic collapse of early 1990s,<ref>Colton, pp. 515-516</ref> and the river itself became "a reeking porridge of raw wastes from eighty-two manufacturing plants."<ref>Colton, p. 546, describes situation in 1960s and 1970s.</ref>
In the 1990s manufacturing along the Yauza declined, and by 2009 many former industrial sites had been converted or rebuilt into offices and housing.
Ecology
The industrialization of the Soviet period polluted the Yauza drainage basin to a point where "an oil-soaked tributary of Yauza burst into flame in 1971"; the Yauza itself "was called a river only by force of habit... the biggest gutter for waste in Moscow"<ref name="C546" /> and caused a prominent surge in Moskva River pollution below the Yauza inlet.<ref>Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy p. 539</ref> By 2005 this surge disappeared, although pollution levels in the lower Yauza remained 2–3 times higher than in the Moskva just below the Yauza inlet.<ref name=R2005>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Untreated filthy surface runoff was (as of 2008)<ref name=R20084>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p. 81</ref> the main source of pollution; in the 1980s it contributed one to eight times more petrochemical waste than direct industrial waste.<ref>Kimstach, Meybeck, Baroudy p. 541; see also maps of pollution sources on pp. 541 and 542 - the areas immediately north-east from the city center are the Yauza drainage basin.</ref> As of 2008, nearly 80% of the surface runoff in the Central Administrative District is still flushed into the Moskva and Yauza untreated.<ref name=R20084/> Until 2000 the river was used in winter as a dump for snow collected from the streets, adding chlorides, soot, rubbish and more oil into the mix.<ref name=KOR>Koretsky, p. 361</ref> This practice is now banned; the city now employs a network of snow-melting dumps that feed polluted water into treatment facilities.<ref name=KOR/>
Pollution levels gradually decreased in the 1990s and 2000s, as riverside factories were closed and converted (or completely rebuilt) into offices and housing;<ref name=R20071/> by 2008, industry contributed less than 10% of the city's waste water.<ref name=R20082/> The historical Kristall distillery (Template:Coord) in Lefortovo remains the last major industrial pollutant on the Yauza.<ref name=R20072/><ref name="R2008.85">State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.80</ref>
Between 2001 and 2007 the city drained the lower stretches of the Yauza, swept poisonous sediments off its bottom and plugged hundreds of illegal sewage outlets.<ref name=R20072>State of environment in Moscow in 2007, section 4.2</ref> The city commissioner's report for 2007 registered a significant decrease in pollution levels between 2006 and 2007 alone (a similar decrease was recorded in 2005<ref name=R2005/>), and reclassified Yauza water from "dirty" (pollution index of 4..6) to "polluted" (index just below 4), specifically mentioning high levels of iron and manganese.<ref name=R20071/>
In 2008, however, the trend reversed and pollution in the Yauza exceeded its 2006 levels.<ref name=R20081>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.73, fig. 4.1.2.1</ref> The petrochemical content in the Yauza was more than three times the national limit (2008: 0.93 mg/L vs. 0.3),<ref name=TA>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.78, table 4.1.2.1</ref> suspended particles fivefold (2008: 56 mg/L vs. 10.25).<ref name=TA/> Iron, manganese, formaldehyde, chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) also exceeded the maximum allowed limits.<ref name=TA/><ref>State of environment in Moscow in 2008, p.74</ref> The Yauza tributaries (except the Ichka River) are still rated as either "dirty" or "very dirty" (pollution index 6..10).<ref name=R20071>State of environment in Moscow in 2007, section 4.1</ref><ref name=TA/> The city (as of 2008) planned the rehabilitation of the Yauza tributaries Chermyanka and Likhoborka,<ref name="R2008.85"/> which was then threatened by shortage of funds in the wake of the 2008 Russian financial crisis.
The upper, cleaner stretch of the Yauza is home to about 20 species of fish, predominantly burbot, perch, crucian carp and gobio,<ref name=SUR/> but the lower Yauza also has a population of hardy fish. Perch caught near the Yauza inlet in the 1990s contained over 250 times the maximum allowed amount of petrochemical substances.<ref name=SO>Sokolov 1998</ref> The abundance of crucian carp became public in April 2008, when an accidental release of hot water from a power plant killed over a hundred fish near the Rostokino Aqueduct.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gobio albipinnatus, a fish that was believed to be extinct in the Moscow Oblast, was rediscovered in the Yauza and the Setun River in 1993.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See also
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References
Sources
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