Water reservoir

Water reservoir (водосховище, водоймище; vodoskhovyshche, vodoimyshche). Artificial water reservoirs are created to control flooding, to regulate water flow for hydroelectric generation and other uses, to store drinking water, and for irrigation. In Ukraine the largest reservoirs, created during the construction of the Dnipro Cascade of Hydroelectric Stations, are found along the Dnipro River. The Dnipro Reservoir, created in 1932 during the construction of the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, covers an area of 410 sq km. The other reservoirs on the river are the Kaniv Reservoir, the Kakhovka Reservoir, the Kyiv Reservoir, the Kremenchuk Reservoir, and the Kamianske Reservoir. Smaller reservoirs along the Donets River and the Dnister River mostly store drinking water. In recent years some small reservoirs have been created for fish farming. In 1988 there were 1,057 reservoirs in Ukraine containing an estimated 55 billion cu m of water.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]