The rapid Sarytag, Khozormech and Serima Rivers flowing in wooded gorges and a talkative brook called Pescherny bring their cold waters into the lake. The sand and pebbles carried by the streams formed small flat grounds at each mouth, which are now covered with poplar, birch, aspen and juniper groves. The shore of Lake Iskanderkul is fringed with a narrow strip of willow, barberry, sweet briar and sea buckthorn shrubs. The bluish green water of the lake is quite cold, but it allows for swimming in closed bays and near the shore. In the winter Iskanderkul freezes all over, and only a current in the middle of the reservoir does not allow a small strip of water to become covered with ice. The lake area is inhabited by rock partridges, hoopoes and snowcocks. However, the lake proper cannot boast diverse fauna and is a home for only one small-sized fish species from the genus Salvelinus.
