Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir on the Enisei River is one of the largest man-made lakes of river origin in Siberia. It is situated at a distance of 2,502 km from the Enisei mouth. The construction of the reservoir started in 1967 and its live storage was filled in 1970. The cost of the project development and the construction of hydroelectric power plant and the reservoir was 802.66 million rubles including 132.56 million rubles for the lake itself. The back- water from the dam extends for a distance of 386 km. The Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir is of the channel type and a long-term storage regulation.

The drainage basin of the reservoir covers three natural zones, forest, forest-steppe and steppe, located in the eastern part of the Sayan Altai mountain range. Mountains are built with ancient crystalline and metamorphic rocks. The drainage network of the basin mainly consists of mountain rivers with narrow valleys, of which 35 enter Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir. The recharge water from the rivers is formed by melting snow and precipitation of summer- autumn period. The annual inflow to the reservoir changes from 60 to 120 km3 yr-1.

The water resources of the reservoir are used for electric power generation at the Krasnoyarsk hydro-electric power station (capacity 6x1.0E+6 kWh). Annual power production is 20x1.0E+9 kW. Navigation and transportation are carried out on the reservoir and its main tributaries (Enisei, Tuba and Abakan) during the ice free period. Timber rafting, commercial fishing and recreation are also among important uses of the reservoir. Further, its water is used for irrigation in the steppe region of the basin. The water supply for domestic needs is mainly met by underground water and only small remote villages utilize water from the lake.

The pollution of the reservoir is caused by the wastewater from mining industry and domestic sewage of the cities Abakan and Tchernogorsk. The projects to cope with the problems of lake shore erosion and water pollution are as follows: bank reinforcement, removal of floating and sinking timbers, sewage treatment, and filling shallow parts of the lake for agricultural development (Q, 1).