Lake Chany
Lake Chany is a lake in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia. The lake extends across five districts of Novosibirsk Oblast: Zdvinsky, Barabinsky, Chanovsky, Kupinsky and Chistoozyorny.
Geography
Lake Chany is one of the largest lakes in Russia. It is located in the Baraba steppe area. The lake is shallow, slightly salty, and has a fluctuating water level, which can change from season to season and year to year.The average depth of the lake is between and, reaching a maximum of in some places. Lake Chany is connected with Malye Chany and Yarkul lakes to the south. North of its northeastern end lies lake Tandovo. Sartlan lies to the east, Ubinskoye to the ENE and Uguy to the northwest.
Yudinsky Reach
Lake Chany is a drying lake. The water inflow decreased since the last half of the 20th century because of the numerous dams built on the inflowing rivers. The Yudinsky Reach, its western part, has almost dried out. Its surface was formerly more than 30% of the total lake area. Since this zone was evaporating a large amount of water and the level of the lake was sinking, an earthen dam was built in 1972 in order to separate the Yudinsky Reach from the eastern section of the lake. The construction of the dam raised the water level in the eastern part of the lake by. The western part began to dry up and by 1978 the water level in it had dropped by. Formerly the lake surface was between in periods of drought and after the melting of the snows in the steppe.Currently the basin of the western part has shrunk and is almost dry, with only residual lakes and marshland. The lakeshore village of Yudino lies on the shore of the now dry Yudinsky Reach.
Studies revealed that there is a risk of the dam collapsing, which would lead to water runoff from the eastern part of the lake flooding the former basin and a negative environmental impact. In 2000 an official decision was taken for the maintenance and overhaul of the dam, and in 2005 funds were allocated from the federal budget for its reconstruction.