Aiviekste River
The Aiviekste flows from the northern end of Lake Lubāns, where it does a wide semicircle and then turns southwest. At this stage is the smallest drop, in addition, here Aiviekste receives the largest tributaries Pededze, Bolupe and Iča. Furthermore, it was straightened and deepened for 83 km. At the lower end, Aiviekste flows through a slightly undulating area. There are several islands, sandbars and about 15 stone sills here in the river. The small Aiviekste hydroelectric power plant (1.4 MW) was built on one of these island groups. After the construction of the Pļaviņu hydroelectric power plant, the lower end of Aiviekste is flooded with a reservoir. It flows through the towns of Lubāna and Pļaviņas (estuary). Near Krievciems - a dolomite quarry.
The river collects water mainly from the East Latvian lowland (Latvian: Austrumlatvijas zemiene). 25% of the area of the Aiviekste basin is covered by forests, 15% - by marshes. There are many wet meadows in the basin, large swamps. Aiviekste is rich in fish. Aiviekste is regulated by locks and canals, as its flow capacity is several times too low when the flood season begins in Lake Lubāns. Until the end of 20th century, during the spring floods, the waters of Aiviekste flowed back into Lubāns upstream due to the influx of tributaries, which intensified the floods there. The Aiviekste floodplain in the middle of the river is a nature reserve as a habitat for birds and a home for rare plants. The fall of the river to the Aiviekste hydroelectric power station of Aiviekste is 1 m by 14 km, and only after that in the last 14 km it increases tenfold.
Tributaries
- Left side: Zvidze, Isliena, Abaine
- Right side: Iča, Piestiņa, Pededze, Liede, Kuja, Svētupe, Arona, Veseta
Gallery
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Aiviekste near bridge of Veseta
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Aiviekste power plant
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Aiviekste in Ļaudona
References
- ^ Latvian Soviet Encyclopedia, p. 1-99.
- ^ Aiviekste floodplain. Nature protection plan
- ^ Latvenergo. Rekonstruētā Aiviekstes HES palielinās zaļās enerģijas izstrādi
- ^ Small Encyclopedia of Latvian SSR, p. 1-39.
- ^ Aiviekste boating. Aiviekste
- ^ Nature Conservation Board. Aiviekstes paliene
- ^ Upesoga: boating in Aiviekste