Monitoring has been carried out on the Kurlady and Karagaikul lakes for several years, Lebyazhye and Belozery have been surveyed for the first time.
Lake Kurlady is interesting for its artificial origin. It arose only in the middle of the twentieth century, as a result of the flooding of the Kurlada tract. The waters of the Kamyshnoye and Tugaykul lakes were transferred here, since the development of coal seams began on the site of these lakes.
Lebyazhye and Belozery are small lakes of the karas type, located a hundred kilometers from Chelyabinsk. Industrial extraction of gammarus and chironomids is carried out in these reservoirs.
Hydrobiological and hydrochemical samples were taken on all lakes; measurements of oxygen levels, temperature, and pH were carried out. Unusually, the oxygen level in the water is relatively high, at some stations up to 4 mg/l, which allows us to hope for the absence of starvation this spring. Forecasts for water content are also favorable: ice thickness is 40-50 cm, 10-15 cm of water on top (since snow melting has already begun), and wet snow is 40-50 cm.
Gammarus samples were taken in two ways: by throwing them onto the ice using a motor drill, and by using a special "mormysh" trough.
The obtained materials will become the basis for calculating the recommended production volumes of invertebrates.
At the same time, on the weekend, a count of fans on the lake was made. Irtyash, the catches have been examined – as expected, the "dead of winter" continues, the fish is inactive and poorly caught. A massive influx of fishermen should be expected at the end of March, along the "last ice."
VNIRO Press Service