Editing Manych (section)

{{Infobox river
| name              = Manych
| image             = Manych River, near highway Rostov-on-Don - Volgodonsk.jpg
| image_caption     = Manych River near Rostov-on-Don - Volgodonsk highway
| map               = Don basin.png
| map_caption       = Manych River flowing northwest at the bottom of this map. The upstream broadening is lake Manych-Gudilo.
| pushpin_map       = Russia Rostov Oblast#European Russia
| mapframe          = yes
| mapframe-zoom     = 6
| source1_location  =
| mouth             = [[Don (river)|Don]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|47.2722|40.1193|region:RU|display=it}}
| progression       = {{RDon}}
| length            = {{convert|420|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| source1_elevation = 
| discharge1_avg    = 
| basin_size        = {{convert|35400|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| tributaries_left  = [[Kalaus (river)|Kalaus]], [[Yegorlyk]]
| tributaries_right = 
| extra             = 
}}

The '''Manych''' ({{langx|ru|Маныч}}) is a river in the Black Sea–Caspian Steppe of Southern Russia. It flows through the western and central part of the [[Kuma–Manych Depression]]. In ancient times, it was known as the '''Lik'''.

A tributary of the [[Don (river)|Don]], it is {{convert|420|km|sp=us}} long, with its current source at the mouth of the [[Kalaus (river)|Kalaus]] in the southwestern part of the [[Republic of Kalmykia]]. It flows through the town of [[Proletarsk, Rostov Oblast|Proletarsk]] and joins the Don in [[Manychskaya]], east of the city of [[Rostov-on-Don]].<ref name=west>[http://igras.ru/index.php?r=147&id=7797 West Manych] (Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences) {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

Along the Manych, going downstream, there are:<ref name=west/>
*Dam at {{coord|45.70|N|44.10|E}} at the mouth of the Kalaus River blocking flow eastward to [[East Manych]]
*Lysyy Liman Reservoir (Dam at {{coord|45.87|N|44.20|E}}) in between these two dams
*A section that is almost dry 
*[[Lake Manych-Gudilo]]
*Proletarsk (Proletarskoye) Reservoir (Пролетарское водохранилище) (Dam at {{coord|46|37|53|N|41|39|36|E}}, near the town of Proletarsk)
*[[Veselovsky Reservoir|Vesyolovskoye Reservoir]] (Весёловское водохранилище) (Dam at {{coord|47|06|36|N|40|46|37|E}}, near Vesyoly).
*Ust-Manych Reservoir near the river mouth (Усть-Манычское водохранилище) (Dam at {{coord|47|14|20|N|40|15|53|E}})

The Proletarsk Dam is sufficiently high to raise the water level in Lake Manych-Gudilo upstream from it, so in fact the lake has become part of the Proletarsk Reservoir. The three reservoirs (and Lake Manych-Gudilo) form an almost continuous chain, the  original course of the river being almost entirely flooded by them. According to the calculations of the Russian geographer Alexander Bazelyuk, between Manych-Gudilo and the river mouth, merely {{cvt|9.1|km}} of the length of the West Manych river remains in its original "river" (rather than reservoir) form: {{cvt|8.2|km}} from the Vesyolovsk Dam to the upper reaches of the Ust-Manych Reservoir, and {{cvt|0.9|km}} from the Ust-Manych Dam to where the river joins the Don.<ref name=bazelyuk-conf>Alexander A. Bazelyuk (А. А. Базелюк), "Changes in the hydrographic network of river basins. The West and East Manych in the 19–20th centuries". In: ''[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090305222235/http://www.unesco.ru/files/docs/science/2007/news/rostov-on-don_wetlands_conf_materials.pdf Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on the Preservation of the Wetlands Biodiversity and Sustainable Use of the Biological Resources of the Steppe Zone]'', Rostov-on-Don, 2007.{{in lang|ru}}{{dead link|date=February 2016}}</ref>