(upper course Dzhurak-Sal), a river in Rostov Oblast, RSFSR, a left tributary of the Don. The Sal is 798 km long and drains an area of 21,300 sq km. It originates in the Kalmyk ASSR and flows over a dry steppe. The lower course meanders. The river is fed primarily by snow. High water is in March and April. The average flow rate 205 km from the river’s mouth is 9.9 cu m per sec. In some years the upper and middle courses dry up in the summer, remaining dry for eight to 200 days. The Sal freezes in mid-December; in some years, the upper Sal freezes completely to the bottom, remaining thus for 19 to 45 days. The ice breaks up in late March. The ice cover is unstable. The main tributaries are the Bol’shoi Gashun, the Malaia Kuberle, and the Bol’shaia Kuberle, on the left, and the Kara-Sal, on the right. Water from the Tsimliansk Reservoir flows into the Sal by way of the Don Main Canal.