Kova (Starka, Starkova) — a small river flowing through the Nizhegorodsky District and Sovetsky District Districts of Nizhny Novgorod and the Kstovsky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. This river is a tributary of another, slightly larger one — the Rakhma — which in turn flows into the Volga River, familiar to all of us since childhood.
Name of the river
The river bears a double name — Kova (Starka) — because of the confluence of two roughly equal streams, each with its own name.
In some cases the river is called the Kova, since the main part of its channel runs along the bottom of a ravine where the stream of the same name originates. The Kova does not change direction after joining the Starka, which makes it possible to regard the Starka stream as a tributary of the Kova River.
In other cases, account is taken of the fact that the Starka stream is more voluminous than the Kova stream that flows into it. This leads some cartographers and researchers to call the river the Starka and to treat the Kova stream as its tributary.
Given the ambiguity of the matter, the preferred form is the river's double name, which has become firmly established in everyday use and in the descriptive sections of academic studies.
Pollution of the river
For decades the river served as a sewage outlet for the Upper Town part of Nizhny Novgorod. Along the river stretches a large garage complex whose "residents" have turned this little waterway into a genuine rubbish dump. Every obstacle in the river collects a pile of plastic bottles.
And the smell coming off this river is enough to take your breath away… Formerly the river bore the name Starka, and for its "contents" the locals nicknamed it "srachka" (the filth-hole). Despite all the efforts of the authorities and non-profit organisations to clean the river, the results are only ever temporary.
Interesting facts
Nevertheless, recent chemical analyses of the local water lead to the conclusion that the river possesses a remarkable capacity for self-purification: dissolved oxygen levels rise already by the third or fourth sampling point, oxidisability decreases — indicating a reduction in organic pollution. And fish do live in these waters.