The Zhabay (; ) is a river in Zerendi District, Sandyktau and Atbasar District districts, Akmola Region, Kazakhstan. It has a length of and a basin size of . The river passes by Sandyktau, Balkashino and Atbasar towns. The water is used in local farms mainly for agricultural field irrigation and watering cattle.[ ATAMEKEN: Geographical Encyclopedia. / General ed. B. O. Jacob. - Almaty: "Kazakh Encyclopedia", 2011. - 648 pages. ISBN 9965-893-70-5]
Course
The Zhabay is a right tributary of the Ishim. It has its sources in the Zerendi Mountains, a subrange of the
Kokshetau Hills. It flows in a roughly SSW direction all along its course and joins the right bank of the Ishim near Timashevka. The channel in the lower course is wide and flowing slowly. Its width reaches up to . The river water is fresh, with a salinity between and . The Zhabay freezes towards the end of October and stays under ice until the second half of April. Variations in level are marked, depending from the season and the year. There were catastrophic floods in 2014 and 2017, affecting mainly Atbasar town.
[Google Earth]
The main tributaries of the Zhabay are the long Zylandy, the Idabol and the Sarymsakty. There are very few lakes in its basin.[ / Almaty, 2009 год]
Flora and fauna
Among the fish species living in the river, the
crucian carp,
tench,
perch, ide,
Diptychus,
Esox,
common bream and
common roach deserve mention.
See also
-
List of rivers of Kazakhstan
External links
