Zapadnyi Manych

(Western Manych, Manych), a river in Rostov Oblast, RSFSR (the upper reaches are in the Kalmyk ASSR); a left tributary of the Don. It rises from Lake Manych-Gudilo. According to other data it is formed at the confluence of the Manych and the Kalaus; at this point there is a bifurcation of the flow into the Zapadnyi and Vostochnyi Manych. Length, 219 km and 420 km, respectively. Basin area, 35,400 sq km (the watershed is taken arbitrarily), of which 2,060 sq km is covered by lakes that for the most part are brackish or salty. It is fed by snow. The waters of the Kuban’ River pass through the Nevinnomyssk Canal and the Zapadnyi Manych’s left tributary, the Egorlyk River, into the Zapadnyi Manych. On the Zapadnyi Manych are the Proletarskaia, Veselyi, and Ust’-Manych reservoirs. The water of the lake is used extensively for irrigation.