
The Swedish army bombarding the fortress of
Daugavgriva at the Daugava's estuary in
Latvia.
The 'Daugava' or Western Dvina (, , , , , , ) is a
river rising in the
Valdai Hills,
Russia, flowing through Russia,
Belarus, and
Latvia, draining into the
Gulf of Riga in
Latvia, an arm of the
Baltic Sea. The total length of the river is 1,020 km (634 mi).
It is connected by a canal with
Berezina and
Dnieper rivers.
It is not to be confused with
Northern Dvina.
There are three
hydroelectric dams on the Daugava River -
Rīgas HES just upstream from
Riga or 35 km from the mouth of the river,
Ķeguma HES another 35 km further up or 70 km from the mouth, and
Pļaviņu HES another 37 km upstream or 107 km from the mouth. A fourth one,
Daugavpils HES, has been planned but has always faced strong criticism.
Belarus currently plans to build several hydroelectric dams on the Belarusian part of Daugava.
Ecological catastrophy of 2007
In late March 2007, a pipe for
diesel fuel transport, located in Belarus and belonging to a Russian company
Zapad-Transnefte-produkt () failed, ejecting more than 100 tons of diesel fuel into the Daugava River.
Currently more than 100 kilometres of Daugava's basin located in Latvia is covered in
petroleum hydrocarbons.
Cities by Daugava
★
Daugavpils, Latvia
★
Jēkabpils, Latvia
★
Aizkraukle, Latvia
★
Ogre, Latvia
★
Salaspils, Latvia
★
Riga, Latvia
★
Velizh, Russia
★
Vitebsk, Belarus
★
Polatsk, Belarus with some
Dvina stones strewn in the vicinity
Main tributaries
★
Aiviekste
★
Pałata
★
Kasplya
★
Mezha
★
Dysna
External links
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River Daugava Basin
★
Daugava Hydropower Plants in Latvia