Rivers
In Kurgan region there are more than four hundred rivers. The majority of them are short. 323 rivers have the length up to 10 kilometers, 106 - from 10 to 200 kilometers. They belong to the basin of Kara Sea. The main water-way is the Tobol, which crosses the region from the south to the north. It originates in Kazakhstan (Kustanay area), on the length of 441 kilometers it bears its waters within the borders of our region, and further it flows in the Irtish and the Kara-Ob basin. The area of the Tobol's basin is 441 thousand square kilometers.

The Tobol is a typical plain river with a slow stream (0.5-0.4 meters per second), changeable water regime: in spring it overflows widely and floods plains with all numerous former river-beds, in summer the Tobol grows shallow, forming rifts and sand spits.

The second-largest river is the Iset, which springs from the mountain lake Isetskoe (Sverdlovsk region), flows in the northwest part of the region and runs into the Tobol, receiving numerous tributaries. The Iset's length on the Kurgan region territory is 284 kilometers.

The Iset, fast in the sources, when receiving the Singara in itself, begins to flow slowly and is divided into arms, forming former river-beds and back-waters. From the Barnevaya mouth to the junction with the Miass, the Iset flows in two arms. The Iset's length on the territory of Kurgan region is 250 kilometers.

On the whole, the Transurals' fluvial system is considerably less developed, than in the European Urals regions and on the the Urals western slope. The abundance of lakes and swamps in the basin of the Tobol and almost full absence of them, for example, in the basin of the Kama is connected with these peculiarities.

Lakes
Lakes in Kurgan region occupy more than 5 % of the territory. There are more than three thousand lakes, 3/4 of them are fresh. About 400 lakes are relatively large.

The lakes are predominantly concentrated in the north-east districts: Makushino, Petukhovo, Mokrousovo, Chastoozerje. There are a lot of lakes in the central and southwest districts (in the country between the Miass and the Ui). Large lakes are: the Shchuchje (Mokrousovo and Chastoozerje districts), the Chernoe and the Steklenej (Mokrousovo district), the Malye Donki (Kurtamysh district) and others.

Lakes without drainage dominate in Kurgan region. It is connected with the subsidence processes, presence of young and mellow layers and weak surface drainage.
On the Tobol's left bank there are water-meadow lakes. They were formed as a result of loss of contact with the main channel. They have no distinct outlines. The large succession of saline lakes is stretched on narrows of the Kizak and the Suer.

The lakes are supplied by snow and partially by rainwaters. It explains the large variability of their water mirror.

Besides fresh lakes in Kurgan region there are numerous saline and alkaline lakes.

Swamps
There are a lot of swamps in Kurgan region, which occupy 5.8 % of the territory. These are abundantly humidified plots of land with poor gaseous exchange and presence of a peat layer. Low-lying swamps dominate in the region. The majority of swamps is situated in the northern districts of the region - in Mokrousovo and Shatrovo. The majority of swamps is hardly used.


Underground waters
Kurgan region has only 3 % of the Urals' natural underground waters resources. The supply of inhabitants by underground resources of underground waters makes 2.7 cubic metres per capita per day, in the Urals - 5 cubic metres per day.

The exploited underground waters resources in the region are small and make 0,44 cubic metres per year. This is the second to last place among the Urals' regions. The underground waters extraction in the Transurals is complicated by the presence of a powerful regional stratum.