Valleys of the Yauza, from the MKAD beltway in the north to the Moscow-Yaroslavl railway west of Sokolniki Park, are protected as natural reserves.

The few that remain on the surface, at least partially, are (north to south):[13] The flow of the Yauza is regulated (particularly in winter)[15] and reinforced with water from the Volga that reaches the city through the Moscow Canal.

[15] 80 million cubic meters[16] of Volga water is sourced each year from the Khimki Reservoir in northwest Moscow and fed through underground pipes and an open channel to Golovinsky Ponds and the Likhoborka River (a tributary of the Yauza).

Raised water levels in the downtown portion of the Yauza basin led to long-term flooding and death of trees deep inside Losiny Ostrov.

Similar toponyms (Auzas, Auzes, Auzi) exist in modern Latvia; the Baltic origins of Yauza are generally accepted but have not been proven.

During the same period potters, blacksmiths and other craftsmen deemed a fire hazard were evicted from Moscow proper onto the opposite, eastern bank of the Yauza (the present-day area of Taganka Square),[3] thus beginning the industrialization of the river.

Tsar Mikhail of Russia (reigned 1613–1645) established his country palace in Rubtsovo (55°46′56″N 37°41′42″E / 55.78222°N 37.69500°E / 55.78222; 37.69500) and his former rival Prince Dmitry Pozharsky (1577–1642) lived further out, in Medvedkovo on the Yauza (55°51′55″N 37°38′17″E / 55.86528°N 37.63806°E / 55.86528; 37.63806).

Alexis I of Russia (reigned 1645–1676) established a chain of country residencies in Preobrazhenskoye and Alekseevskoye (55°49′5″N 37°38′40″E / 55.81806°N 37.64444°E / 55.81806; 37.64444) on the Yauza, and Izmaylovo Estate on its Serebryanka tributary.

In 1653 Alexis yielded to the pressure of Orthodox clergy and expelled Catholics and Protestants from Moscow; they resettled in the German Quarter on the eastern bank of the Yauza, isolated from the city by the marshes around the Kokuy and Chechora streams.

He neglected his father's palaces, instead concentrating on the military (Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment, established 1687) and supporting the industries spreading on both banks of the river.

In 1846, pollution from these mills prompted Moscow governor Aleksey Shcherbatov to survey the banks of the Yauza and enforce administrative action against the offenders.

"[29] The railroad infrastructure in Krasnoselsky District, a steady source of municipal revenue,[30] was threatened by regular floods on numerous tributaries of the Yauza.

[40] The postwar period added the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant in Sokolniki and the Lyulka rocket-design bureau (now NPO Saturn) in Babushkinsky District.

[42] A system of four[42] sets of locks would gradually reduce the water level; the river itself was to be deepened and widened into a navigable canal with granite embankments and broad, riverside highways.

The social and zoning policies made in 1935 were soon discarded; industrialization of the Yauza drainage basin continued unchecked through the Soviet period, particularly in the "reviled south-east quadrant" not obstructed by park and forest reserves.

[44] The "problem child of the first Five Year Plan" continued to grow until the economic collapse of early 1990s,[45] and the river itself became "a reeking porridge of raw wastes from eighty-two manufacturing plants.

[50] Pollution levels gradually decreased in the 1990s and 2000s, as riverside factories were closed and converted (or completely rebuilt) into offices and housing;[6] by 2008, industry contributed less than 10% of the city's waste water.

[51][52] Between 2001 and 2007 the city drained the lower stretches of the Yauza, swept poisonous sediments off its bottom and plugged hundreds of illegal sewage outlets.

[6][53] The city (as of 2008) planned the rehabilitation of the Yauza tributaries Chermyanka and Likhoborka,[52] which was then threatened by shortage of funds in the wake of the 2008 Russian financial crisis.

[55] The abundance of crucian carp became public in April 2008, when an accidental release of hot water from a power plant killed over a hundred fish near the Rostokino Aqueduct.