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- Water data: scientists said the Caspian shoaling and "dead volume" of Baikal
Water data: scientists said the Caspian shoaling and "dead volume" of Baikal
The shoaling of the Caspian Sea may result in the disruption of ecosystems and economic activities in the deltas of large rivers that flow into the sea - the Volga and the Ural. Scientists told about it at the meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which was devoted to the issues of rational use of water resources of the country. The academicians also discussed what the legislative initiative to expand the limits of fluctuations in the level of Lake Baikal could lead to. Other issues include the need to create a single state body to manage the country's water sector.
Water problems in Russia
Issues of saving national water resources and their rational management were discussed on November 26 at the meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). As the scientists noted, our country ranks second in the world in terms of renewable fresh water resources and first in terms of static (eternal) ones. However, these resources have a number of unfavorable properties.
- If small countries have to solve two or three water problems, Russia has many times more. This is due to the diversity of geography, climatic zones, seasonal heterogeneity and other factors that need to be taken into account for optimal water use," Victor Danilov-Danilyan, scientific director of the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in his speech.
According to the scientist, the number of economically accessible sources of fresh water is decreasing in Russia, as well as worldwide. This is mainly due to global warming, because of which every five years the amount of liquid suitable for drinking decreases by 1%.
According to Danilov-Danilyan, the main reason is the pollution of water bodies. And, judging by the reports, the amount of harmful discharges from enterprises is decreasing, but the level of pollution of water bodies is not decreasing. This happens because the enterprises themselves provide the calculated data, often understating the figures by many times.
Russia is almost the only developed country where there is no systematic instrumental control of pollution discharges into water bodies, the expert emphasized. In his opinion, the solution to the problem lies in the creation of a single state body for effective water management.
- There are many lake systems in Russia. The largest of them are of strategic importance for the economy and national security, - emphasized Nikolay Filatov, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Water Problems of the North, Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - Their management requires accurate models that describe the processes in water bodies and predict the environmental consequences of anthropogenic impact.
In particular, the scientist gave an example, trout farms, which are actively developing in our country, do not always take into account the load on fresh water bodies. The transfer of large enterprises of this kind to the White Sea may improve the situation, but these projects should also be carefully calculated.
What is the danger of the Caspian Sea shallowing
Deputy Director of the Institute of Oceanology named after P.P. Shirshov spoke about the problems of the Caspian Sea at the meeting. Pyotr Zavyalov, Deputy Director of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. According to him, the average sea level has been declining since the mid-1990s. At present it is at -28.73 meters. This is one of the minimum values in the history of observations. A similar situation was observed in 1977, after which the volume of water in the Caspian Sea increased. Whether it will happen now, experts cannot reliably predict.
- It is extremely difficult to predict processes in the Caspian Sea. Despite the fact that it is a closed body of water, there are a lot of factors that current models take into account. In addition, the sea is divided between five coastal countries into sectors, and there is a problem of obtaining homogeneous data obtained by uniform methods," the specialist said.
He added that one of the main factors of the Caspian Sea level decrease is water losses in the deltas of large rivers - Volga and Ural, which, according to some estimates, make up about 10% of the total volume of river flow into the sea.
Mr. Danilov-Danilyan noted that the Caspian zone is promising for cotton cultivation. Especially if innovative irrigation systems such as underground drip irrigation and others are applied.
Why it is important to regulate the level of Lake Baikal
The event also discussed the problems of Baikal. In particular, Director of the Baikal Institute of Nature Management SB RAS Yendon Garmayev emphasized the problem of acceptable fluctuations in the level of the Siberian Sea and its reduction to the so-called dead volume - the minimum level at which it will be impossible to discharge water through the turbines of the Irkutsk HPP.
- If earlier the lake level fluctuations were within 1 meter, now they are discussing legislative initiatives that suggest permanently increasing this range to 2.3 meters. We believe that during the period of low water this will affect the ecology of soras (shallow bays - Izvestiya) in the lower reaches of the Selenga. This is the largest river flowing into Baikal. Also during the high water period, the water will flood the coastal areas and will damage ecosystems and some settlements," said the scientist.
According to him, according to the calculations of specialized research institutes, it is advisable to keep the meter range and allow this threshold to be exceeded by no more than 20 cm and only under force majeure circumstances, suchas severe floods or droughts.
Yendon Garmayev also reported on the risks associated with the construction of a cascade of hydropower plants in Mongolia on the Selenga and its tributaries. This may limit the inflow of water into Lake Baikal. The rational solution in this situation, according to the scientist, is related to the obligation of the Mongolian side to fill the reservoirs of hydroelectric power plants only in high-water years.
