Kichi-Kemin River


The Kichi-Kemin River is a river in Kemin District of Chuy Province of Kyrgyzstan and Korday District of Kazakhstan. It is a right tributary of the Chu River in Chuy Valley. It is long with a basin area of. The flow of the Kichi-Kemin River considerably varies; the minimum flow is in February, and the maximum is in July.

Course

The source of Kichi-Kemin River is high in the shoots of Trans-Ili Alatau in Kyrgyzstan. For about the river flows to the north and then to the west along the Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan border from an elevation of about to. The river passes through urban-type settlement Ak-Tuz and flows to the southwest in a narrow gorge. Further on, it passes through the village of Imeni Il'icha and enters the Kichi-Kemin Valley. The Kichi-Kemin River then turns west and passes near the villages of Kichi-Kemin, Boroldoy, and Beysheke. It flows parallel to the Chu River at a distance of and crosses the Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan border. In Kazakhstan, it passes near the villages Karasay batyr and Enbek gradually approaching the Chu River, and flowing into it near Chim-Kurgan.

Ecology and environment

Contamination

In 1964, mudflows damaged tailings pond No.2 in the vicinity of the Kichi-Kemin River, and of radioactive tailings contaminated the river and lower part of Kichi-Kemin Valley with thorium, lead, copper, zinc, beryllium and other heavy metals.

Environmental monitoring

The Kyrgyz State Agency on Hydrometeorology runs two water-quality monitoring stations on the Kichi-Kemin River: one of them is upstream and another is downstream of Ak-Tuz.