Unified Deep Water System of European Russia

There are plans to increase depth of these sections to 4 m.[2] The system includes these waterways: A limiting factor for the size of vessels that can use the waterways are the dimensions of the locks, which vary somewhat throughout the system.

In particular, the route from St Petersburg to Rybinsk Dam (via the Volga-Baltic Waterway) accommodates vessels with the length of up to 170 m, the width of up to 16.8 m, and the draught of up to 3.6 m, with the space of at least 14.6 m available under bridges.

From the Rybinsk Dam to the mouth of the Volga (Streletskoye), the guaranteed sizes are length 280 m, width 28.50 m, draught 3.10 m, with at least 11.70 m of space available under bridges.

[3] In 1999, the warty comb jelly colonized the Caspian Sea via the UDWS.

[4] In total, according to the unified federal/state agency CaspNIRKh (Russian: КаспНИРХ), about 60 alien species of plants and animals penetrated into the Caspian Sea in the 20th century, which has led to significant changes to ecosystems.