Druzhba Lake Dam

The Druzhba Lake Dam is a hydraulic engineering structure in the valley of the Malaya Sita River, in the Khabarovsk district of Khabarovsk Krai, next to the village of Druzhba. An earthen dam blocks the river and separates the reservoir it creates from the village; locally the reservoir and the dam itself are simply called Lake Druzhba, though formally it is not a lake but a storage pond behind the dam.

History

The reservoir near the village of Druzhba was created by damming the river to irrigate the surrounding fields: water from the impounded Malaya Sita River went to irrigate the collective farm's land. The village itself has not always carried its present name: until 1963 it was the settlement of the first division of the Nekrasovsky state farm, and for some time afterward it was known as the Stalin collective farm. The village received its current name, Druzhba ("friendship"), in the Soviet period, and the reservoir is traditionally named after it as well.

What is there now

The dam still holds back water today: it has a concrete spillway collector through which excess water flows out of the reservoir into the Malaya Sita River, keeping the lake from overflowing during high water. The stream falling down the collector looks like a small artificial waterfall — a notable detail that visitors photograph. Fish are caught in the reservoir itself, and cows graze in the fields around it — the place keeps the look of a lived-in rural area rather than an abandoned site.

Thanks to the open space over the water and the absence of city light pollution, people come here to watch sunsets and sunrises, and in the evenings to observe the starry sky: the flat surface of the reservoir and the surrounding fields give a wide view of the horizon. The place is not set up as a tourist site — there are no parking areas or signs — it is more of a spot for those willing to drive along rural roads for the view of the dam and the water.

Getting there

An asphalt road leads to the dam, winding slightly as it approaches from the direction of the village. The landmark for the turn is a waist-high concrete marker post painted with the word "Druzhba"; from there the road turns off toward the dam without entering the village of Druzhba itself. From that point the road leads straight to the reservoir and the dam with its spillway.