The Sheksna was turned into the Sheksna Reservoir upstream of the settlement of Sheksna, and downstream of that settlement it flows its natural course. A major part of the district belongs to the basin of the Sheksna, with the exception of its southeastern corner, which is divided between the basins of the Sogozha and the Vologda Rivers. As the Vologda belongs to the basin of the Northern Dvina, and both the Sheksna and the Sogozha belong to the basin of the Volga, the district is crossed by the divide between the basins of the White and the Caspian Seas.