Kishma is a river in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, a The Oka River. It is 71 km long, with a drainage basin area of 795 km². It flows through the territory of Vachsky District.[1]
Hydrography
The river's source lies in the urochishche of Kolpenka on the border of Vachsky and Sosnovskiy Districts, near the bell tower of a disused church, approximately 3 km southwest of the village of Babkino. The elevation of the source is over 140 m above sea level; the mouth is at 68 m above sea level. From its source, the Kishma flows northward to the village of Matyushevo, then continues north through Komarovo and Gomzovo, before turning westward for its final 10 km. It empties into the Oka River near the village of Okulov.[1]
The river meanders heavily and flows through open, sinkhole-prone (karst) terrain. The section from the village of Bogdanovo to Davydkovo is characterized by an intermittent flow. Within the city limits of Vorsma, the Kishma passes through Vorsma Lake, situated in a large karst depression. Vorsma Lake (also known as Toskanka) is a Natural monument: it is protected as a habitat for rare plant species listed in the regional Red Book and as a nesting site for waterfowl and waterside birds. A hydraulic structure regulating the water level in Vorsma Lake (Toskanka) is located on the Kishma River; in 2022 a decision was made to carry out a major overhaul of the structure at a cost of 60.3 million rubles, with completion of the reconstruction planned for the second quarter of 2023. During the 2022–2023 reconstruction works, the contractor installed a temporary dam made of sandbags and crushed stone; it was washed away during spring flooding, causing water from Vorsma Lake to drain partly into the Kishma and Oka rivers and resulting in a significant drop in the lake's water level.[2][1]
Connection with the Peremilovsky Hills
The left bank of the Kishma in the vicinity of Vorsma forms the eastern boundary of the Peremilovsky Hills: on the current topographic map of Nizhny Novgorod Region, the label "Peremilovsky Hills" ends precisely at the left bank of the river near Vorsma, where the maximum elevation reaches approximately 150 m.[1]
Sources
- KP — Nizhny Novgorod — A hydraulic structure regulating the water level in Vorsma Lake (Toskanka) is located on the Kishma River. In 2022 a decision was made to carry out a major overhaul of this hydraulic (archive)
- Wikipedia (ru) — Kishma (archive)