Federal Agency for Science and Education

Kazan State Technological University

Department of Management, Economics and Law

Essay on the course "Economics of nature management"

The problem of providing fresh water resources and

ways to overcome it

Kazan 2007

Introduction

The State of the World's Freshwater Resources

Aggravation of water management problems in Russia

Ways to overcome the shortage of fresh water

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The problems of ecology all over the world are considered to be one of the most urgent, because the health of the nation and, accordingly, the existence of any state directly depend on it.

Water is the basis of life. She plays an important role in the geological history of the Earth and the emergence of life, in shaping the climate on the planet. Living organisms cannot exist without water. It is an essential component of almost all technological processes. We can say that the main function of water is life-supporting.

Water is the most common substance in nature. However, 97.5% of the hydrosphere is salt water and only 2.5% is fresh water, 2/3 of which is accumulated in glaciers and permanent snow cover, and 1/5 is represented by groundwater. Out of 35 million cubic kilometers of fresh water, humanity uses 200 thousand km3 (less than 1% of all reserves), and in many regions there is a water management pressure. About 1/3 of the population lives in areas where fresh water intake is from 20 to 10% or more of available resources.

The multi-purpose use of water resources increases the demand for them, leads to an increase in pollution and the gradual depletion of natural sources. These problems manifest themselves with varying degrees of severity at the regional, state and global levels.

The State of the World's Freshwater Resources

Fresh water resources are extremely unevenly distributed across the planet. Thus, in Africa, only about 10% of the population is provided with regular water supply, while in Europe this figure exceeds 95%.

The situation with water in the cities of the world is becoming more and more precarious. The most difficult situation is observed in Asia, in which more than 50% of the population lives, but it has only 36% of water resources. Residents of 80 countries of the world experience an acute shortage of clean drinking water. In many states, water supply is already regulated.

According to the hydrological classification, countries with 1000-1700 m3 of renewable water per person per year live under water stress, and less than 1000 m3 live in water deficit conditions. However, it should be noted that humanity's capacity for adantation is enormous: Jordanians, for example, survive on a per capita water consumption of only 176 m3 per year.

The problem of providing people with water and sanitation services is very acute: 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean fresh water, of which 65% are in Asia, 27% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 2% in Europe. 2.4 billion people live in unsatisfactory sanitary conditions (without sewerage), of which 80% in Asia, 13% in Africa, 5% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2% in Europe.

With an increase in the population, the volume of water involved in the sphere of economic activity is growing (its consumption has increased 6 times over the 20th century, and the population of the earth has increased 4 times). Half of the population (in Europe and America - 70%) lives in cities and towns, which, as a rule, have economic opportunities to establish water supply and sewerage, but at the same time concentrate and multiply waste.

The mass of anthropogenic contaminants discharged into water bodies is growing (at present, about 6 billion tons of waste are dumped into the rivers and lakes of the world every day). About 50% of the inhabitants of developing countries are forced to take water from polluted sources. UN experts predict that if this trend continues, then in 20 years water consumption per capita will be reduced by 1/3.

The unsatisfactory quality of drinking water poses a real threat to the life and health of millions of people, their well-being. Every year, 500 million people fall ill and 10-18 million people die due to poor-quality water in the world.

Water is significant for solving the energy problem. The two most important areas of its application are the generation of hydroelectric power and the use for cooling and thermal power plants:.

In 2001, hydroelectric power accounted for 19% of the total energy produced (2710 Terawatts per hour); capacity to generate an additional 377 TWh was in the planning or construction phase. But only a third of all projects considered economically feasible received further support. This is due to a decrease in enthusiasm for the construction of large dams.

The construction of dams and the creation of reservoirs has contributed to economic development (electricity generation, development of irrigation, water supply for industrial enterprises and the domestic sector, flood control). At the same time, this led to negative social consequences: the resettlement of 40 to 80 million people, a decrease in the social status and standard of living of migrants, irreversible changes in the natural environment (loss of land as a result of filling the reservoir bed, as well as areas of untouched nature and wildlife habitats). and etc.).

In the US, for example, almost 500 medium-sized dams have been demolished or mothballed (mainly for environmental reasons). Although these structures represent a small fraction of the 800,000 dams and reservoirs built by the Americans in the 20th century, the process that has begun reflects a wariness of widely used technologies.

Despite the changing attitude towards large dams, the deployment of hydraulic installations is planned. This construction will expand in many regions, primarily in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is predicted that in 2010 the production of hydroelectric power in the world will amount to 4210 TWh, of which 9 % - due to large hydropower.

Small hydropower will also be developed. Small (up to 10 MW) installations are useful in rural and remote areas. Thus, about 60,000 installations are already operating in China. It is expected that by 2010 . energy production using small hydropower will increase in the Middle East by 5 times, in Australia, Japan and New Zealand - by 4.2 times, in Central and Eastern Europe- 3.5 times, in the CIS - 3 times.

The main consumers of water resources are agriculture (primarily irrigation) - 70%, industry uses 22% for household needs, 8% of water is used. In high-income countries, these figures are 30:59:11%, in low- and middle-income countries - 82:10:8%, respectively.

The food supply of the population is carried out at the expense of agricultural products, livestock breeding, aquaculture and forestry. The uncontrollable systems of the Earth are capable of feeding no more than 500 million people, so agriculture is constantly developing.

The pumping out of groundwater is much faster than its reproduction (recovery is slow - for about 1400 years). It is known that more than 50% of usable water has already been pumped out. Only a few countries can resort to food imports. If most countries turn to it, it is likely that world markets will not be able to meet the increased demand, since the number of food exporting countries is rapidly declining.

As a result of the development of irrigation in a number of river basins, the withdrawal of the average annual runoff will exceed the environmentally permissible volumes of water withdrawal. Thus, the Colorado River stopped flowing into the Gulf of California due to the consumption for irrigation of the fields of C-ShA and Mexico. In dry years, the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers do not reach the Aral Sea. The number of lakes is rapidly decreasing. So, in China, 543 large and medium-sized lakes disappeared - water was drawn from them to the bottom.

There is a depletion of groundwater, a decrease in their level in many regions - primarily in India, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. In Northern China, groundwater levels have dropped by more than 30 m in an area inhabited by over 100 million people. It is determined that 10% of the world's grain crop is produced using groundwater. Unless there is a change in water use policy, this share of the crop will one day cease to exist. According to the International Food Policy Institute, since 2005 the world will lose at least 130 million tons of food annually due to the lack of fresh water. Currently, 1.5 billion people suffer from hunger.

It is expected that by 2030 the area of ​​irrigated land will increase by 20%, the volume of water consumed will increase by 14%. South Asia will use 40% of its renewable fresh water for irrigated agriculture. This is the level at which a difficult choice can arise between agriculture and other water users. In the Middle East and North Africa, 58% of the water will be used for agriculture.

Deforestation (resources were destroyed on 80% of the forest area covering the Earth 5-6 thousand years ago), degradation of wetlands (no more than 50% remained), regulation of river flow (the flow of 60% of the world's largest rivers is interrupted by hydraulic structures) and other factors lead to a violation of the natural mechanism of water retention.

The degradation of aquatic and near-water systems and landscapes, which are the habitat of many living beings, has already threatened the extinction of 24% of mammal species, 12% of birds and a third of 10% of fish studied in detail. The biological diversity of fresh waters (numbering from 9,000 to 25,000 species) is sharply declining.

Ecosystem disturbance also entails the growth of natural disasters. Over the past 10 years, over 2,200 major and minor disasters have occurred in the world, one way or another related to water (floods, droughts, landslides, avalanches and famines). Asia and Africa have been hardest hit.

Climate change also affects the state of water resources. There has been a trend towards an increase in extreme weather conditions. According to experts, this will increase the lack of water in the world by 20%.

Rising Tensions in International River Basins Along with the problem of distributing water resources between different areas of its application (irrigation development, energy generation, urban economy, etc.), there is also the problem of reconciling interests and establishing cooperation with other administrations or countries that use the river basin or groundwater sources.

According to UN forecasts, by 2050, the world's population will be 8.9 billion people, from 2 to 7 billion people will suffer from water shortages. Disputes over the distribution of water resources can be the cause of most economic and political conflicts or even wars.

At present, the number of international river basins is 261 and they are divided among themselves by 145 states. For example, the Nile, the Danube, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra once provided everyone with water in sufficient quantities. But as populations and economies grow, upstream countries' use of water resources reduces water levels downstream.

In Europe and Africa, most river basins are multinational. In Europe, more than 150 major rivers and 50 lakes cross the borders of two or more countries. More than 100 transboundary groundwater basins have been discovered in Western and Central Europe. About 31% of Europeans already face serious water shortage problems (especially during periods of drought and low water levels in rivers), which in the future will worsen and give rise to conflicts both between water users and between states.

European countries are increasingly aware of the importance of cooperation and rational water management. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes contributed to this to a considerable degree. The world experience of the last 50 years shows that when sharing a river basin, conflict situations arose in 42% of cases, but formally war was never declared.

The most typical causes of disputes in river basins include: independence of states; implementation of a water management project unilaterally without taking into account the interests of other water users; hostile relations between countries for other reasons.

The problems of joint use of waters are solved by adopting the necessary legislation and creating appropriate management structures (interstate commissions). Over the past 50 years, more than 200 agreements on the use of transboundary water areas that are not related to shipping have been signed in the world, but many of them need to be finalized.

Introduction……………………………………………………………..3

Water resources as a factor in the development of productive forces..5

2. Problems of rational use of water resources ....9

3. Regulation of water consumption and sanitation……………12

4. Payment for the use of water……………………………………….15

Conclusion………………………………...……………………….20

References……………………………………………………23

Test…………………………………………………………………24

Task……………………………………………………………….24

Introduction

Environmental problems are taking an increasingly important place in the system of world priorities. The economy is often cited as the main culprit of environmental degradation.

Now the main reason for the critical ecological situation is the existing man-made, nature-destroying type. And without changing it to a sustainable, environmentally balanced one, it will be impossible to solve the most complex socio-economic tasks facing the country.

The primary source of the modern material energy potential of human society is all natural biological and mineral resources earth.

The history of the interaction between society and nature shows that humanity most often developed its economy through the predatory use of natural resources.

The spontaneous development of productive forces already in ancient societies caused irreparable damage to nature.

However, in ancient times, anthropogenic impacts on the environment were still relatively insignificant, they could not lead to radical environmental changes in nature. And only the twentieth century. with the colossal development of productive forces, it became a critical point of reference, beyond which the fate of mankind began to depend on the nature of the interaction between nature and society.

One of the main natural resources is water, that is, water.

The water shell of the Earth - the hydrosphere - covers 71% of its surface. 96.5% of water is concentrated in the seas and oceans, 1.7% in glaciers, and only 0.45% is in the fresh water of rivers and lakes. In absolute terms, the water potential of our planet is 1.5 billion km 3 , but fresh water accounts for only 28 million km 3 .

The basis of Russia's water resources is river runoff. Its annual volume averages 4262 km3. 200 km 3 enters Russia from neighboring countries. In terms of river runoff, Russia ranks second in the world after Brazil (10 thousand km 3).

Water is an indispensable natural wealth that performs the functions of life support for people, the environment and living conditions for plants and wildlife. The ecological function of waters is to provide natural conditions for life on Earth.

Without water, the source of life on Earth, humanity will not live long, because water resources are used everywhere, for a wide variety of needs and industries.

It is necessary to use water resources more rationally, protect and restore them, not as they are exhausted, but in advance, before that.

Otherwise, not only all production, which cannot do without water resources, but life itself will freeze.

1. Water resources as a factor in the development of productive forces

Natural resources-resources formed in the natural environment as a result of natural natural processes. They consist of natural conditions, which include solar radiation, heat of the Earth, terrain, climate, etc. and actually natural resources - elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere used in production activities or in the sphere of consumption. The economic boundaries between natural conditions and natural resources themselves are fluid. The use of water as a source of energy or in some other way turns it from a mere natural factor into an economic resource.

The economic system as a whole is a system of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Within the framework of these processes, the interaction of society and nature is constantly taking place. Any production and consumption is associated with the use of natural resources and the impact on the environment. Any economic decision also has an impact on the environment in the broadest sense of the term. As the functioning of economic systems becomes more complex, production and consumption increase, the role of the natural (environmental) factor is constantly increasing.

Water is a raw material of a special kind, without which it is impossible to implement any technology. Water is used at all stages and it is also one of the final products necessary for every person. Therefore, the mass of water consumed in the processes of economic activity exceeds by an order of magnitude all other raw materials in the aggregate.

The economic function of water is expressed in the fact that they are the most important energy and transport resource, an indispensable means of industrial and agricultural production. The cultural and health-improving function of the waters is manifested in their use for recreation, water sports, tourism, recreational fishing, sanatorium treatment, and the organization of reserves and reserves.

Industry is the main water consumer. Within this sector, the main water-consuming industry is energy, followed by mechanical engineering, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, pulp and paper, chemical and food industries.

Industries that use water as a resource without changing its physical and chemical state are called water users. These include, in particular, water transport, fisheries, hydropower.

Production, mainly industrial, resources include explored in detail and suitable for exploitation, previously explored with certain boundaries, as well as poorly explored, but reliable reserves, including off-balance sheet, i.e. poor quality, with a poor content of useful components.

Water resources are an integral part of economic resources or, in other words, a factor of production. Along with labor (labour force) and capital, water resources as an independent substance are used in the economy for the production of goods and services, being influenced by the first two factors. However, there is also an opposite effect. Any capital includes already used, materialized in it water resources. Experiencing their influence and workforce.

The role of water resources and conditions in social development at different historical stages was different, but always significant.

Groundwater in the Kemerovo region is the main source of water supply for large industrial centers, workers' settlements and rural settlements. Water is used for drinking and technical water supply of the population and in technological processes of metallurgical, mining and other types of industry.

Fresh groundwater cannot always act as a natural resource; it becomes such only there and only when, in terms of its qualitative and quantitative indicators, it can be used (now or in the future) for drinking water supply to the population or technical support for industrial facilities, the main of which is the economic and drinking supply of the population In the life of society, wetlands perform functions determined by their ecological characteristics. Including - serve as the main source of drinking and technically clean water; maintaining the level of groundwater, largely determine the productivity of agricultural land; represent the basis for the development of irrigated agriculture; serve as the main base and necessary environment for some types of animal husbandry; serve as a source of fuel, building materials, fertilizers (wood, reed, peat, sapropel); play the role of a raw material base for various industries (fishing, hunting, picking berries); represent great opportunities for tourism, recreational and balneological use; form part of the necessary environment for the life of indigenous peoples who preserve the traditional way of life.

The wetlands of Russia, along with its forests, as well as the Brazilian selva, serve as the planet's main terrestrial oxygen regenerators, and the swamps are one of the main reservoirs of fixed carbon. There are industries closely related to them, such as: river transport, peat extraction, etc.

It can be concluded that water resources in any form: fresh groundwater, wetlands, river basins, etc. are necessary for the development and operation of productive forces. In many industries, from agriculture to heavy metallurgy, they play a significant role.

Problems of rational use of water resources

Throughout its history, humanity has felt the influence of favorable or unfavorable natural conditions, one way or another, faced with limited resources. However, when solving these problems in one way or another, it, as a rule, has always, up to the present time, not been fully aware of the consequences of the use of water resources and the fact that anthropogenic impact on nature, which appeared throughout the life of many generations.

From the point of view of the costs of reproduction and protection, certain types of resources may soon become non-renewable. A similar situation may arise if the rate of use of reproducible resources exceeds the rate of their replenishment.

The water potential of Russia in the field of transport is enormous. The length of Russian rivers reaches 2.3 million km, and the coastlines of the seas - 70 thousand km. However, the length of navigable routes (internal) is significantly less - 90 thousand km. In terms of cargo turnover, river transport ranks fourth, and sea transport is third among all freight carriers, and in terms of passenger traffic, it ranks last.

Several negative factors affect the rational use of water in the field of fisheries. First, it is water pollution. Secondly, water intake for household needs from natural sources. Thirdly, the construction and operation of hydroelectric power stations, whose dams prevent the free passage of fish, and most importantly, cut off spawning grounds. Fourthly, there is a frequent lack of means of fish protection at water intakes. And, finally, violation of the regime and non-compliance with catch quotas.

Another major water user - hydropower (it is based on 40 large power plants) is considered the cleanest, most environmentally friendly source of energy. This is true, if we do not take into account the ecological and economic value of the lands alienated during hydro construction, which are among the most agriculturally productive. To date, 5-6 million hectares of agricultural land have been flooded under the zones of hydroelectric power stations. This problem is most significant for flat areas, where the areas of flooding are especially large. In addition, hydroelectric dams disrupt the normal hydrological regime of rivers, as a result of which the river ceases to be a river in the exact meaning of this concept. Such a fate may befall, in particular, the Volga with its cascade of hydraulic structures. Damage to hydroelectric power plants, as already noted, and fish spawning grounds. In the Azov basin, all spawning grounds for beluga and 80% of spawning grounds for sturgeon, stellate sturgeon and other fish are cut off from spawners by hydropower plants.

The main reserve for increasing the efficiency of the use of water resources is to reduce its consumption in the main water-consuming industries, in particular this applies to fresh water - primarily through the introduction of water-saving technologies and reducing its use for economic needs. The second direction is the elimination of numerous water losses at all stages of its use. Only when bringing water from sources to consumers, 8 km 3 is lost annually. Large losses are also observed directly at water users, in particular, in irrigation. Due to the use of outdated technologies, the efficiency of irrigation systems is 0.5, which means almost a fifty percent loss. This was also facilitated by the economic mechanism, which did not stimulate the saving of water during irrigation. 20% of the consumed water is lost in public utilities, and in some cities this figure reaches 40%. This situation occurs due to the state of the plumbing systems (all kinds of fumes, leaks, leaks, etc.). To this should be added the irrational consumption of water in everyday life - the lack of water meters and low water tariffs for the population stimulate the wasteful use of drinking water, which is expensive in terms of the cost of its preparation. The problem of its quality is also aggravated. Due to the general pollution of water bodies, the lack of modern purification technologies and the lack of funds for it, the quality of water in terms of its physical and chemical composition is deteriorating in a number of Russian cities.

One of the important economic reasons for the degradation of the natural environment is the underestimation or even free of charge of many natural goods, which leads to the over-exploitation of nature. It is necessary to find an adequate economic value of nature, its resources, benefits, services. Here we can distinguish three ecological functions that need to be economic evaluation: provision of natural resources; assimilation of waste and pollution; providing people with natural services, such as recreation, aesthetic pleasure, etc.

There are warnings about the depletion of fresh water reserves on the planet. At present, various “water” institutions, rules and laws, government agencies, planning and design organizations that develop the structure of water consumption have begun to take into account the resource side of the water use system too late. The depletion of aquifers, the fall of the groundwater level, the reduction of river flow to an ecologically dangerous level - all these processes have become widespread. While the conventional approach of ever-increasing water supply has worked in the face of abundant water resources, it is hardly suitable for the current period of growing water scarcity, increasing resource development costs and increasing environmental damage.

MOU Odintsovo Lyceum №2

Research work

on the topic:

"Ecological problems of water resources in Russia"

Performed:

Student 10 "H" class

Stakhnova V.V.

Scientific adviser:

Borisova N.M.

Odintsovo

2011

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION 3-4

WATER RESOURCES (RESERVES AND USE) 5

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION 6-8

ENVIRONMENTAL STATE OF WATER RESOURCES

4.1. RIVER 9

1. LAKE 9-11

   GLACIERS 11-12

   SEA 12-13

   SNOW Dumps 13-14

   GROUND WATER 14-15

SPRING WATER STUDIES 16-17

METHODS TO COMBAT WATER POLLUTION

1. NATURAL WATER CLEANING 18

   BASIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT 19

CONCLUSION 20

REFERENCES 21

APPENDIX 22-26

1. INTRODUCTION

Water is one of the most amazing substances on our planet. We can see it in liquid, gaseous and solid states. All wildlife cannot do without water, which is present in all metabolic processes. It was in water that life on our planet originated. Man cannot live without water. And, of course, in our modern world, water is one of the most important factors determining the distribution of production forces, and very often the means of production.

"If the armed conflicts of this century often broke out over oil, then the bloody conflicts of the next century will flare up over water." These words belong to the Vice-President of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin, who is responsible for financing projects related to environmental protection.

Where there is water, there is life - this simple truth, born in the East, has become a common phrase that accurately reflects the relationship between water and life. The importance of water and the hydrosphere, the water shell of the Earth, cannot be overestimated. And involuntarily questions arise: is there a lot of water on our planet, is it enough for the needs of man and the civilization he has generated? A survey by environmental experts published in 2009 in the Paris-based Unesco Resources magazine found that 97.5 percent of our planet's water resources contain salt, and as such are unfit for human consumption. The remaining 2.5 percent is fresh water, which is used by humans for food, agriculture, industry and other purposes. But access to these fresh water resources is complicated due to their location in various, sometimes hard-to-reach natural environments.

These figures clearly show us how valuable fresh water is and how carefully it should be treated. The reserves of fresh water available on Earth are more or less constant and do not tend to increase spontaneously.

Meanwhile, every year humanity consumes more and more priceless moisture. Environmental scientists have calculated that in 1995, earthlings "drank" 2,300 cubic kilometers of fresh water. Most of this volume was used for the needs of agriculture and industry. Agriculture now accounts for five times more water than at the beginning of the century. Industry, on the other hand, spends 26 times more of it, and urban economy 18 times more, than at the dawn of the century.

The need for fresh water increases with the development of industrial potential, the expansion of the irrigation network in agriculture, and the improvement of environmental sanitary conditions. Further growth of the population will contribute to the increase in water consumption. In 1996, 5.5 million people lived on our planet, and in 2025, according to forecasts of demographic scientists, this figure will approach eight billion.

The development of civilization, regrettably, is accompanied by enormous damage to the environment. Pollution of water sources causes great harm to human health. It is estimated that from the use of such water in developing countries 3.3 million people die every year.

Along with the restoration of the normal quality of drinking water, the most important task of today, according to UNESCO experts, is the revival of those areas on our planet that, due to the lack of water that once abounded there, have turned into dead zones.

Of great importance for the rational use of water resources is the expansion of knowledge about them, a deeper study of the water reserves available on the planet that are suitable for meeting human needs. To this end, the World Meteorological Organization (with the support of UNESCO and the World Bank) put forward a proposal to establish an international organization whose task would be to collect data on the availability of fresh water resources in the world and develop recommendations for their rational use by man, industry and agriculture.

2. WATER RESOURCES OF RUSSIA (RESERVES AND USE)

Russia is one of the countries richest in natural waters in the world. Our country is washed by the waters of 12 seas, on the territory of Russia there are more than 2.5 million large and small rivers, more than 2 million lakes, hundreds of thousands of swamps and other objects of the water fund.

The total natural resources and fresh water reserves of the Russian Federation are estimated at 7770.6 km 3 /year. Static (secular) reserves, most of which are concentrated in lakes and groundwater, are about 90 thousand km 3 / year (Table 1).

The main drawback of water reserves in Russia is their extremely uneven distribution across the country. (Fig. 1). AT last years due to economic instability, which led to a drop in industrial output, a decrease in agricultural productivity and a reduction in irrigated areas, there has been a decrease in water consumption in Russia (for 2001-2005, fresh water - by 20.6%, marine - by 13.4 %).

And so the limited supply of fresh water is significantly reduced due to their constant pollution. The intensive development of industry and agricultural production, the improvement in the level of improvement of cities and towns, and a significant increase in the population have ensured a sharp deterioration in water quality in almost all regions of Russia in recent decades. Nature is not able to purify such an amount of polluted water, which leads to the gradual destruction of ecosystems. And the demand for water is increasing all the time. The development of civilization, regrettably, is accompanied by enormous damage to the environment.

The main damage to the aquatic environment is caused by humans. Agriculture consumes the largest amount of water for land reclamation purposes, 3/4 of which is irretrievably lost due to evaporation. A large amount of water is also used in industrial production for the purpose of preparing various solutions, washing equipment and apparatus, premises and containers, and for waste disposal. Huge amounts of water are used as a heat carrier and for cooling. The volumes of water consumption are also great for human needs: for drinking, cooking, washing, cleaning and washing. At the same time, a person takes clean water for his needs, the needs of industry and agriculture, and returns it to the natural environment with a high level of pollution.

The demand for fresh water is increasing all the time. Further growth of the population will contribute to the increase in water consumption. In 1996, 5.5 billion people lived on our planet, and in 2025, according to forecasts of demographic scientists, this figure will approach eight billion.

3. CAUSES OF POLLUTION OF WATER RESOURCES

Pollution of surface and ground waters can be divided into the following types:

mechanical - an increase in the content of mechanical impurities, characteristic mainly of surface types of pollution;

chemical - the presence in water of organic and inorganic substances of toxic and non-toxic action;

bacterial and biological - the presence in the water of a variety of pathogenic microorganisms, fungi and small algae;

radioactive - the presence of radioactive substances in surface or ground waters;

thermal - the release of heated water from thermal and nuclear power plants into reservoirs.

The main causes of water pollution are:

industrial wastewater generated in all industries (especially in the pulp and paper, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, energy, chemical and oil refining industries);

domestic wastewater containing sewage, as well as a large number of household chemicals;

atmospheric waters containing masses of chemicals of industrial origin washed out of the air;

rainwater, carrying with it a large number of various substances that pollute city streets and squares, production sites, agricultural land, green areas, forests and other areas;

chemical aerosols and dust particles deposited from the air.

In Russia, for a very long time, due attention was not paid to the problem of preventing pollution of the water basin. A huge amount of wastewater of uncertain composition was and is being discharged into open water bodies - rivers, rivers, stagnant and flowing lakes. Only recently has our government begun to realize the catastrophic situation in Russia's ecology. Sanctions for causing damage as a result of pollution of water basins have become tougher. A number of measures have been taken to close some enterprises (for example, the Priozersk Pulp Plant on Lake Ladoga), which cause irreparable damage to nature.

The increased shortage of fresh water is associated with pollution of water bodies by wastewater from industrial and municipal enterprises, water from mines, mines, oil fields, during the procurement, processing and alloying of materials, emissions from water, rail and road transport, leather, textile food industries. The surface waste of cellulose - paper, enterprises, chemical, metallurgical, oil refineries, textile factories, and agriculture is especially polluting. Most of the used river water is returned to rivers and reservoirs, but so far the growth of wastewater treatment plants has lagged behind the growth in water consumption. At first glance, this is the root of evil. In fact, everything is much more serious. Even with the most advanced treatment, including biological treatment, all dissolved inorganic substances and up to 10% of organic pollutants remain in the treated wastewater. Such water can again become suitable for consumption only after repeated dilution with pure natural water. And here, for a person, the ratio of the absolute amount of wastewater, even if it is purified, and the water flow of rivers is important.

The world water balance showed that 2200 km 3 of water per year is spent on all types of water use. Almost 20% of the world's fresh water resources are used to dilute wastewater. Calculations for 2000, assuming that the water consumption rates will decrease, and the treatment will cover all wastewater, showed that 30-35 thousand km 3 of fresh water will still be required annually to dilute wastewater. This means that the resources of the total world river flow will be close to exhaustion, and in many parts of the world they have already been exhausted. After all, 1 km 3 of treated waste water "spoils" 10 km 3 of river water, and not purified 3-5 times more. The amount of fresh water does not decrease, but its quality drops sharply, it becomes unsuitable for consumption.

Throughout its path, water itself is able to be cleaned of contaminants that enter it - decay products of organic substances, dissolved gases and minerals, suspended solid material. If harmful substances enter the water immediately, they rot, and oxygen is consumed for their oxidation. There is a so-called biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The higher this requirement, the less oxygen remains in the water for living microorganisms, especially for fish and algae. Water becomes biologically dead - only anaerobic bacteria remain in it; they thrive without oxygen and in the course of their life they emit hydrogen sulfide - a poisonous gas with a specific smell of rotten eggs. The already lifeless water acquires a putrid smell and becomes completely unsuitable for humans and animals. This can also happen with an excess of substances such as nitrates and phosphates in the water; they enter the water from agricultural fertilizers in the fields or from sewage contaminated with detergents.

Some businesses, especially power plants, consume huge amounts of water for cooling purposes. The heated water is discharged back into the rivers and further disrupts the biological balance of the water system. The unnatural temperature hinders the development of some living species and gives an advantage to others. But these new, heat-loving species also suffer greatly as soon as water heating stops.

Even in ancient times, people were engaged in irrigation work and drainage (melioration). This is one of the main ways to increase the productivity of agricultural land. About 50% of all produced products are obtained from reclaimed lands. Land reclamation is of great importance in agriculture (Table 3).

In Russia, the area of ​​irrigated land is constantly increasing. This leads to a significant increase in the consumption of water resources. When conducting water reclamation, up to 200 km 3 of water is annually consumed (depending on the degree of moisture). Drainage and irrigation can lead to serious consequences, changes in the natural climate (more frequent droughts, reduced precipitation, shallowing of rivers). When soils are stratified by washing and excess water runoff, drainage (or collector-drainage) waters are formed. These waters, entering the rivers, increase the level of mineralization and the water in them becomes undrinkable. With drainage waters that are discharged into reclamation systems, biogenic substances, pesticides and other chemical compounds that have a harmful effect on natural waters are carried out during wastewater disposal.

Water transport is perhaps the most ancient water user. The inland waterways of Russia, which have a total length of over 400,000 km, transport up to 50 million tons of cargo. Water transport, without making high demands on water quality, is one of the significant sources of pollution of water bodies with oil products and suspended solids.

Oil and petroleum products are among the most harmful chemicals. In connection with the growth of production, transportation, processing and consumption of oil, the scale of environmental pollution is expanding. The rivers of the world annually carry out more than 1.8 million tons of oil products into the sea and ocean waters. This happens as a result of accidents of oil tankers transporting oil from oil production areas to consumption areas, in emergency situations at offshore oil fields, when the integrity of oil pipelines is violated, and when ballast and washing waters are discharged by tankers. Getting on the surface of the water, oil forms a thick film, which gradually spreads over the surface of the water and, under the influence of waves and wind, gradually turns into a state of inverse emulsion. This highly viscous emulsion film is able to remain on the water surface for a long time, disrupting oxygen exchange and introducing difficulties in the life of not only lower organisms, but also fish, birds, and marine animals. All oil components are toxic to marine organisms. Oil affects the structure of the marine animal community. With oil pollution, the ratio of species changes and their diversity decreases.

Polluted water causes great harm not only to the environment, but also to human health. Due to the increased pollution of water sources, traditionally used treatment technologies are in most cases not effective enough. Almost 70% of Russian residents drink water that does not comply with GOST “Drinking Water”. Pollution of fresh waters and lands by a boomerang again returns to humans in food and drinking water.

4. ECOLOGICAL STATE OF WATER RESOURCES

4.1. RIVERS

Rivers have always been a source of fresh water. More than 2.5 million rivers flow through the territory of Russia. But in the modern era, they began to transport waste, become contaminated with various harmful substances. Because of this, the limited supply of fresh water is reduced even more. Almost all rivers are subject to anthropogenic impact, the possibilities of extensive water intake for economic needs in many of them are generally exhausted, and thousands of small rivers have ceased to exist due to human fault. The water of many Russian rivers is polluted and unsuitable for drinking purposes.

The flow of rivers varies depending on climate fluctuations. Human intervention in natural processes has already affected river runoff. In agriculture, most of the water is not returned to the rivers, but is spent on evaporation and the formation of plant mass, since during photosynthesis, hydrogen from water molecules passes into organic compounds, which leads to the depletion of rivers. 1,500 reservoirs have been built to regulate the flow of rivers; they regulate up to 9% of the total flow. The runoff of the rivers of the Far East, Siberia and the North of the European part of the country has not yet been affected by human economic activity. However, in the most populated areas, it decreased by 8%, and near such rivers as the Terek, Don, Dniester and Ural, by 11-20%. The water runoff in the Volga, Syr Darya and Amu Darya has noticeably decreased. As a result, the inflow of water to the Sea of ​​Azov decreased by 23%, to the Aral Sea - by 33%. The level of the Aral fell by 12.5 m. The state of small rivers is unfavorable, especially in the areas of large industrial centers. Significant damage is caused to small rivers in rural areas due to the violation of the special regime of economic activity in water protection zones and coastal protective strips.

4.2. LAKES

In total, there are about 2 million fresh and salt lakes in Russia (Table 4); among them is the world's deepest freshwater lake Baikal, as well as the Caspian Sea. Lakes across the territory of Russia are also unevenly distributed: most are located in the North-West (Kola Peninsula, Karelia), in the Urals, in Western Siberia, on the Lena-Vilyui Upland, in Transbaikalia and the Amur River basin.

Many lakes are a kind of regulators of river flow: they reduce the height of floods and floods, protect territories from flooding and flooding, and create conditions for a uniform intra-annual distribution of river flow. In lakes, as well as in rivers, sewage is discharged.

Lake Baikal is one of the cleanest (until recently) lakes in Russia. The main problem of Baikal is the regulation of the flow of the Angara by the dams of the HPP cascade. Since this is the only river flowing out of the lake, the level of the lake directly depends on the degree of filling of the Angara reservoirs. The significance of the slightest fluctuations in the water level in Baikal has long been known. Its increase leads to the development of abrasion (destruction of the coast). Abrasion not only harms coastal ecosystems, but also brings thousands of tons of soil into the water, which leads to an increase in the concentration of nutrients. An excess increase in the level of Baikal leads to economic losses associated with flooding of settlements, railways, roads, ports and the deterioration of the conditions for the reproduction of Baikal commercial fish.

Another problem of Baikal is the pollution of its waters. One of the reasons is that every year the administrations of the constituent entities of the Federation issue permits for temporarily agreed emissions and discharges above the norm even for enterprises located in the immediate vicinity of the coast of Lake Baikal. The most famous polluter of Lake Baikal is the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM), which was built in 1966 for the production of a strategic raw material - cord pulp. Endemic algae and mollusks have disappeared in a twenty-kilometer spot in the area of ​​​​discharge of treated wastewater from the plant.

A significant amount of pollution comes with the waters of the Selenga River. The beginning of the flow of pollution gives the industry of Mongolia, especially the mining and processing plant in Erdenet. The main pollutant of the Selenga in Russia is Ulan-Ude, where sewage treatment plants cannot cope with the discharges of the city's industrial enterprises. Added to this is the pollution of the floodplain of the Selenga River, where in recent years there has been a mass breeding of livestock by agricultural enterprises and uncontrolled summer cottage construction.

The main source of atmospheric pollution in the region is the industry of the Irkutsk region. The most dangerous for the Baikal ecosystem are emissions of fluorine compounds from the Shelekhov aluminum plant and sulfur from coal combustion at thermal power plants.

The Baikal region has been experiencing the same difficulties in recent years as the whole of Russia. A consequence of the increase in the incomes of some groups of the population in business centers was the systematic and uncontrolled alienation of land on the coast of Lake Baikal, including in zones with special protection. The construction of settlements and enterprises in such areas without treatment facilities leads to the entry into the lake of biogenic elements (nitrogen and phosphorus), which are especially dangerous for endemic organisms.

The growing gap in living standards in business centers and rural areas is forcing the local population of the Baikal regions to survive at the expense of the resources of the lake and taiga, poaching has increased sharply, in particular, illegal fishing and logging. The latter are especially dangerous on the coast of Baikal and along the valleys of the rivers flowing into it, because they lead to forest degradation, a decrease in the water content of rivers and a decrease in the self-cleaning capacity of the Baikal ecosystem.

4.3. GLACIERS

The temperature on the planet is steadily rising. The first victim of global warming may be the Arctic. Will the Earth lose its ice cap? The melting of the Arctic ice has been causing concern for a long time. And this can no longer be attributed to the private opinion of individual scientists and journalists fanning a sensation. Three hundred specialists from 8 countries bordering the Arctic have been assessing the state of ice in the northern latitudes for four years. It has been established that the Arctic polar cap has shrunk by almost one-fifth over the past 30 years.

Now pack ice in the Arctic Ocean covers approximately 8.4 million km3. [*Pack ice is sea ice at least 3 meters thick that has existed for more than 2 annual cycles of growth and melting. In the form of extensive ice fields, it is observed mainly in the Arctic basin. A more correct name is multi-year ice.] This is the average annual value: in winter, the ice shell grows to 18 million square meters. km, decreases in summer. Scientists fear that in a hundred years the area of ​​Arctic ice in the summer months will be halved. Melting ice will raise the level of the World Ocean, and this will entail further climate change on a planetary scale. And for the fauna of the northern regions, in any case, this will be a disaster. For example, polar bears, constantly wandering on the floating ice of the Arctic, simply will not have a place to live.

One of the main causes of climate change is an increase in the greenhouse effect due to an increase in the content of certain gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide. If current emission rates continue, CO₂ up in the airXXIIcentury will double! Alas, the forecast prepared by the Computing Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences confirms the disappointing conclusions. Calculations show that with a twofold increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the Arctic Ocean will become warmer by 1.5°C, and the area of ​​ice in the summer months will decrease by 80%. And this is not the most pessimistic of the possible scenarios. Some experts predict that by 2070 the ice in the Arctic may completely melt.

On earth, periods of cooling and warming replace each other. 8-5.5 thousand years ago, the weather in Europe was on average 2-3 degrees warmer than today, and the ocean ice cover was almost half as much. The cooling that began in the first quarter of the second millennium turned out to be short-lived and already at the end of the 19th century was replaced by warming. As a result, in the 1930s, winter temperatures increased by 5°C in Greenland, and by 8–9°C in Svalbard! Swallows and starlings appeared in Iceland, gray-headed thrushes began to nest in Greenland. And since the 1940s, temperatures have dropped again, and over the next 25 years, the area of ​​ice in the Arctic has increased by 10%. It is believed that all these "wobbles" are the result of overlapping cycles of "warming - cooling" of different duration - from short to tens of thousands of years.

How long the current warming will last and what its consequences will be is unknown. Even if all countries of the world join the Kyoto Protocol, which regulates the emission of industrial gases into the atmosphere, this will not give an immediate effect.

It remains to be hoped that the hypothesis that the Arctic ice is a self-regulating system is correct. When the polar cap melts, a layer of desalinated water appears near the surface of the ocean. A transitional layer is created between it and the deep layers, which prevents the rise of warmer waters to the surface of the ocean. The water cools, freezes, and the ice shell of the Arctic grows again.

4.4. SEAS

Nothing is protected from pollution and the sea, which have long served as a dumping ground for various sewage. Pollution occurs as a result of the discharge into rivers and then into the ocean of wastewater from various enterprises. How many fields and forests have been treated with pesticides, and how much oil has been lost during its transportation by tankers? Oil pollution of the oceans is undoubtedly the most widespread phenomenon. From 2 to 4% of the water surface of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is constantly covered with an oil slick. Up to 6 million tons of oil hydrocarbons enter sea waters annually. Almost half of this amount is associated with the transportation and development of deposits on the shelf. Continental oil pollution enters the ocean through river runoff. The soluble components of oil are highly toxic. Their presence in sea water leads to the death of their inhabitants. They negatively affect the palatability of marine animals. If fertilized fish eggs are placed in an aquarium with a very low concentration of oil products, then most of the embryos die.

Along with river runoff, heavy metals also enter the ocean, many of which have toxic properties. The total river runoff is 46 thousand km of water per year. Together with it, up to 2 million tons of lead, up to 20 thousand tons of cadmium and up to 10 thousand tons of mercury enter the World Ocean. Coastal waters and inland seas have the highest pollution levels. The atmosphere also plays a significant role in the pollution of the oceans. For example, up to 30% of all mercury and 50% of lead entering the ocean annually is transported through the atmosphere.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons, widely used as a means of combating pests in agriculture and forestry, with carriers of infectious diseases, have been entering the World Ocean along with river runoff and through the atmosphere for many decades. DDT and its derivatives, polychlorinated biphenyls and other stable compounds of this class are now found throughout the world's oceans, including the Arctic and Antarctic.

The scale of pollution of products of the seas and oceans is so great that in many countries sanitary standards have been established for the content of certain harmful substances in them. It is interesting to note that at only 10 times the natural mercury concentration in the water, oyster contamination already exceeds the limits set in some countries. This shows how close the limit of sea pollution is, which cannot be crossed without harmful consequences for human life and health. The degree of pollution of sea water is increasing more and more. Often the ability of the seas and oceans to self-purify is no longer sufficient. Basically, pollution fields are formed in the coastal waters of large industrial centers and narrow rivers, as well as in areas of intensive navigation and oil production. Pollution is spread very quickly by currents and has a harmful effect on the areas richest in animals and vegetation, causing serious damage to the state of marine ecosystems.

For example, in the Krasnodar Territory, a project of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is being implemented: an oil pipeline is being laid, an oil loading terminal is being built. And dozens of hectares of relict juniper forests were destroyed (the animals and birds that lived in them lost their ecological niche and were doomed to death).

Another example: residents of the Novorossiysk region oppose the construction of an oil port in the village. Yuzhnaya Ozereyka, as this poses a threat to Russia's only federal children's resort, Anapa, located nearby. This year, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Novorossiysk satisfied the lawsuit filed by a group of citizens about the improper conduct of construction work on the CPC, but its decision was immediately protested by the Novorossiysk prosecutor's office.

4.5. SNOW Dumps

The problem of winter snow removal is quite acute, and Moscow is no exception: similar difficulties are encountered in most cities in Northern Europe, the USA and Canada. The difficulty lies not only in the need to maintain streets and roads in accordance with the technical standards of operation in conditions of a sharply increased traffic flow, but also in the possibility of minimizing damage to the environment, the state of which cannot be called satisfactory in the industrial Moscow metropolis.

The main types of winter snow removal activities are anti-slip and cleaning (removal) of snow and ice, removal of snow to specially designated local storage areas (snow dumps and snow melters). Technical salt, sand, gravel and, in some cases (at air temperatures up to -300C) liquid calcium chloride are used as the main anti-icing materials. Restrictions on the use of the latter drug are associated with its negative impact on the reliability of electrical equipment located under the bottoms of urban electric transport (trams, trolleybuses). In accordance with the approved “Temporary Instructions on the Technology of Winter Cleaning of Streets and Driveways...”, the treatment of streets is carried out by special distribution machines with a consumption rate of 50-60 g/m 2 . The technical capabilities of dosing devices do not allow flexibility in changing the density of the dressing when the weather changes. Thus, the value of 50 g/m 2 is valid under any weather conditions for the winters of the Moscow region. The most dangerous sections of highways and streets (steep descents, ascents, brake pads, tunnels, dangerous turns and intersections, overpasses, public transport stops, etc.) are processed twice, with a total density of dressing 100 g/m 2 . Crushed stone of a fraction of 2-5 mm, mixed with technical salt, and possibly sand, is used during periods of snowfall of considerable intensity, passing at low air temperatures. In the event of snowfall and at air temperatures below -15°C, continuous processing of the roadway with crushed stone is possible. Processing of the carriageway of urban roads, according to the rules, should be carried out immediately with the onset of snowfall, taking into account the class of the road. A similar approach is used for the subsequent removal of the snow mass.

The possibility of transferring snow from the road over the side of the road or onto lawns or dividing green strips is justified in the method of winter cleaning of streets by the low class (secondary importance) of the road. Within the city, these are most often roads, on both sides of which there is a forest or plantings, i.e. rather vulnerable components of the environment. Thus, the transfer of snow, especially within the city, in which the plants are in a depressed state, seems unacceptable. A possible way out of this situation is either throwing “clean” snow (not treated with anti-icing agents) over the side of the road, or standard processing with the formation of a snow bank at the side of the road and the subsequent removal of the snow mass.

Cleaning and processing of streets and roads occurs mainly with the help of mechanical means. Therefore, it seems necessary to separately formulate the requirements for the equipment used in winter cleaning. The main disadvantage of the technique used is the impossibility of adjusting the salt spreaders for the purpose of flexible processing of road surfaces. Parking lots of vehicles pose a danger to the environment as sources of emissions into the atmosphere and liquid effluents, consisting mainly of petroleum products. In this case, it is necessary to have facilities and carry out additional measures aimed at minimizing damage. Those. places of possible repair and washing of equipment should have a solid surface (asphalt, concrete) with a slope of 3-5% towards the water intake. The water intake-settlement must have a capacity sufficient to receive effluents and exclude the possibility of seepage. The film of oil products must be collected from the surface and disposed of. It is unacceptable to discharge untreated effluents from equipment parking into the sewer (drainage) network.

For equipment placement sites, it is necessary to calculate emissions into the atmosphere in accordance with the “Methodology for conducting an inventory of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere for motor transport enterprises. NIIAT". In case of exceeding the indicators for emissions, it is possible to carry out additional measures aimed at reducing the impact of emissions into the atmosphere. Salt should only be stored on hard paved surfaces, avoiding salt spills on open ground. Periodic monitoring and checking of the condition of containers used to store liquid reagents is necessary to prevent leakage.

Snow dumps (permanent or temporary) are local sources of environmental pollution, regardless of the type of their equipment. The spread of waste snowmelt waters, which contain chlorides (in concentrations many times higher than the MPC), oil products, and suspended debris, pose a significant danger.

4.6. GROUND AND GROUND WATER

The problem of providing the population of Russia with high-quality drinking water is one of the most socially significant, since the health of people, the ecological and epidemiological safety of the regions of the country depend on it. Groundwater is found in boreholes at depths of up to several kilometers. More than a third of potential resources are concentrated in the European part of the country. In the country as a whole, the degree of development of groundwater reserves does not exceed 20%. Fresh groundwater is formed on the territory of the Moscow region mainly with the help of precipitation. Falling to the surface, part of them seeps into the system of aquifers and forms an underground runoff. On average, about 11% of the norm of atmospheric precipitation is fed to groundwater in this region.

Groundwater is used mainly for drinking purposes. They also serve as a reliable source of food for rivers. They operate all year round and feed the rivers during winter and summer low water (or at low levels of the water horizon), when there is no surface runoff. At very slow rates of movement of groundwater, compared with surface water, groundwater in the river runoff acts as a regulatory factor.

According to the conditions of occurrence, three types of groundwater are distinguished: perched water, groundwater and pressure, or artesian.

Ground waters are waters that lie on the first water-resistant horizon below the perch. They usually belong to an impervious formation and are characterized by a more or less constant flow of water. Groundwater can accumulate both in loose porous rocks and in solid fractured reservoirs.

Groundwater accumulating in alluvial deposits is one of the sources of water supply. They are used as drinking water, for irrigation

Groundwater outlets to the surface are called springs, or springs.

Despite the natural protection of groundwater, its quality may deteriorate over time. The main sources of groundwater pollution in Moscow are: leaks from sewer collectors, infiltration of polluted atmospheric precipitation through polluted soils, backfilled and built-up landfills, leaks and filtration from treatment facilities, technological communications, and from sewered and non-sewered industrial sites. Ground waters are the most polluted in the territory of Moscow. Their pollution is mainly associated with the extremely widespread liquid municipal waste, as well as gaseous waste from motor vehicles, industrial enterprises, thermal power plants, etc. Pollutant components are represented by chlorides, sulfates, organic substances, nitrogenous compounds and heavy metals.

STUDY OF SPRING WATER

Many residents of Moscow and the Moscow region believe that water from springs or wells is much better in quality than that which enters city apartments from the water supply system. Many attribute spring water almost healing properties. However, health problems can arise precisely in people who use spring water - no one guarantees its quality.

It is impossible to control how various environmental factors will affect the quality of spring waters. Sewer breaks, unauthorized discharges of industrial enterprises - all this can get into the water at any time. The decomposition of animal corpses, protein residues, urine, feces is the main source of the appearance of ammonium nitrogen and nitrates in water. Well water often contains high amounts of nitrates due to the use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. It is not difficult to imagine the consequences of drinking such water.

The presence of these compounds confirms that pathogenic microorganisms causing various diseases could get into the water together with these substances. The presence of E. coli in human and animal feces also signals their possible presence. According to the documents of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service in 2007, according to these indicators, in the waters of more than fifty springs of the Moscow Region, the permissible norm was almost one and a half times exceeded. The intake of biologically aggressive microelements, such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, is especially dangerous. There are widely known examples of diseases among the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Japan (in the middle of the last century) due to the ingress of mercury and cadmium into the water. As a result, people who ate the fish developed permanent paralysis and bone destruction that could not be cured.

Perhaps some consumers of spring water are lucky, and "their" springs are not polluted. But no one can guarantee that this situation will continue in the future. According to specialists from the Moscow State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service, the water of all natural springs in Moscow and many of the Moscow region is not suitable for drinking. Now measures are being taken to cleanse the springs, but at present it is better to refrain from drinking spring water.

VISUAL STUDIES OF SPRING WATER.

Target: determine the degree of pollution of water taken from springs.

We took samples of the spring waters of the city of Odintsovo. Samples were collected in polyethylene bottles washed with HCl solution (1:1). Water analysis was carried out within a day after sampling. The water was examined according to the following points: transparency, sediment and color.

A font was placed under the bottom of the cylinder, which could be clearly read through a certain layer of water, which indicates its slight pollution.

A slightly noticeable sediment observed at the bottom of the cylinder indicates a low contamination of the sources.

The color of different waters was determined according to the chromium-cobalt color scale.

Conclusion: slight transparency, a slightly noticeable sediment and slight coloration indicate a slight contamination of the sources.

CHEMICAL STUDIES OF WATER.

Target: experimentally detect potassium and lead cations, chloride ions and sulfate ions in water samples.

10 ml of the sample was placed in a test tube, 5 ml of the reagent was added.

2K + + Na + + 3- = K2Na↓

The precipitation of a yellow precipitate indicates a concentration of potassium ions of more than 0.1 mg.

2) 10 ml of the sample was placed in a test tube, 1 ml of the reagent solution was added.

Pb 2+ + CrO42- = PbCrO4↓

Opalescence was observed, indicating a lead cation concentration of less than 0.1 mg/l.

3) 4 drops of nitric acid were added to 10 ml of water sample and 0.5 ml of silver nitrate solution was added.

C l - + Ag + = AgCl↓

Turbidity of the solution indicates that the concentration of chloride ions is more than 10 mg/l.

4) 3 drops of hydrochloric acid were added to 10 ml of water sample and 0.5 ml of barium chloride solution was added.

SO 4 2- + Ba 2+ \u003d BaSO 4 ↓

Turbidity of the solution indicates the content of sulfate ions - more than 1 mg / l.

Conclusion: Based on chemical studies, it can be argued that the water meets the requirements of SanPiN and is suitable for consumption, but there is a tendency for the quality of spring water to deteriorate.

6. METHODS FOR COMBAT WATER POLLUTION

6.1. NATURAL CLEANING OF WATER

The factors of self-purification of water bodies can be conditionally divided into three groups: physical, chemical and biological.

Among the physical factors, the dilution, dissolution and mixing of incoming contaminants is of paramount importance. Good mixing and reduction of suspended solids concentrations is ensured by the rapid flow of the rivers. It contributes to the self-purification of water bodies by settling to the bottom of insoluble sediments, as well as settling polluted waters. In areas with a temperate climate, the river cleans itself after 200-300 km from the place of pollution, and in the Far North - after 2 thousand km.

Disinfection of water occurs under the influence ultraviolet radiation Sun. The effect of disinfection is achieved by direct destructive effect ultraviolet rays on protein colloids and enzymes of the protoplasm of microbial cells, as well as spore organisms and viruses.

Of the chemical factors of self-purification of water bodies, oxidation of organic and inorganic substances should be noted.

The biological factors of self-purification of the reservoir include algae, molds and yeast fungi. However, phytoplankton does not always have a positive effect on self-purification processes: in some cases, the massive development of blue-green algae in artificial reservoirs can be considered as a process of self-pollution.

Representatives of the animal world can also contribute to the self-purification of water bodies from bacteria and viruses. Thus, the oyster and some other amoeba adsorb intestinal and other viruses. Each mollusk filters more than 30 liters of water per day.

Certain factors adversely affect the processes of self-purification of water bodies. For example, chemical pollution of water bodies with industrial wastewater, biogenic elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.) inhibits natural oxidative processes and kills microorganisms. The same applies to the discharge of thermal wastewater from thermal power plants.

A multi-stage process, sometimes stretching for a long time - self-cleaning from oil. AT natural conditions the complex of physical processes of self-purification of water from oil consists of a number of components: evaporation; settling of lumps, especially those overloaded with sediment and dust; adhesion of lumps suspended in the water column; floating lumps forming a film with inclusions of water and air; reducing the concentration of suspended and dissolved oil due to settling, floating and mixing with clean water. The intensity of these processes depends on the properties of a particular type of oil, air temperature and sunlight.

In small rivers, the ability to self-purify is much less than in large ones, and the mechanism of self-purification is easily violated during overloads.

The ravines adjacent to the water protection zone must be reinforced so that they do not clog or silt the reservoir.

Springs that feed a river or lake must be cleared and well maintained.

1. BASIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT METHODS

Wastewater treatment methods can be divided into mechanical, chemical, physicochemical and biological, but when they are used together, the method of wastewater treatment and disposal is called combined. The application of this or that method, in each specific case, is determined by the nature of the pollution and the degree of harmfulness of impurities.

The essence of the mechanical method is that mechanical impurities are removed from wastewater by settling and filtration. Mechanical treatment allows you to isolate up to 60-75% of insoluble impurities from domestic wastewater, and up to 95% from industrial wastewater, many of which, as valuable impurities, are used in production.

The chemical method consists in the fact that various chemical reagents are added to the wastewater, which react with pollutants and precipitate them in the form of insoluble precipitates. Chemical cleaning achieves a reduction of insoluble impurities up to 95% and soluble impurities up to 25%.

In the physicochemical method of treatment, finely dispersed and dissolved inorganic impurities are removed from wastewater and organic and poorly oxidized substances are destroyed, most often coagulation, oxidation, sorption, extraction, etc. are used from physicochemical methods. Contaminated wastewater is also treated using ultrasound, ozone, ion exchange resins and high pressure, and chlorination has proven itself well.

Among the wastewater treatment methods, a biological method based on the use of the laws of biochemical and physiological self-purification of rivers and other water bodies should play an important role. Wastewater is subjected to mechanical treatment before biological treatment, and after it, to remove pathogenic bacteria and chemical treatment, chlorination with liquid chlorine or bleach. The biological method gives great results in the treatment of municipal wastewater. It is also used in the treatment of waste from oil refineries, the pulp and paper industry, and the production of artificial fibers.

7. CONCLUSION

The logic of the development of life on Earth defines human activity as the main factor, and the biosphere can exist without a person, but a person cannot exist without the biosphere. Clean water is a factor in the existence of the biosphere. The next generations will not forgive us for depriving them of the opportunity to enjoy the pristine nature.

Every person has the right to a healthy environment. This is written in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Those who violate this right are punished. There is a chapter in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation called "Environmental Crimes". Every inhabitant of planet Earth should feel responsible for the state of the environment.

Preserving the harmony of man and nature is the main task facing the current generation. This requires a change in many previously established ideas about the commensurability of human values. It is necessary to develop an “environmental consciousness” in every person, which will determine the choice of options for technologies, the construction of enterprises and the use of natural resources.

One of the main tasks of modern education is to increase the ecological culture of the current generation, the formation of an ecological way of thinking. At the end of the twentieth century, the government of our state approved and approved the State program for education in the field of environmental protection. It defines the goals and principles of organizing environmental education. An important point is the fact that the priority of environmental education, the mandatory introduction of environmental disciplines in all educational institutions enshrined in the laws "On Education" and "On Environmental Protection". From the slogan “Take everything from nature”, a transition to the slogan “Nature is our home” is necessary.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Vorontsov A.I., Kharitonova N.Z. "Nature Protection", M., Higher School, 1997 pp. 68-91.

2. "Engineering ecology and environmental management" Ed. Ivanova N.I., Fadina I.M., -M., Logos, 2008, p. 124-149.

3. "Engineering ecology" Ed. Medvedeva V.T.-M., Gardariki, 2005, p.59-84.

4. Konstantinov V.M. "Nature Protection", - M., Academy, 2003, p. 75-89

5. Konstantinov V.M., Chelidze Yu.B. "Ecological foundations of nature management", -M., Academy, 2004, p. 58-76.

6. "Problems of environmental protection and nature management" Ed. Burkova N.A., Shiryaeva V.V. - Kirov, 2006, pp. 23-31.

ATTACHMENT 1

Table 1 "Total water resources of the Russian Federation"

Water resources

Static (secular) reserves
fresh water

Average multi-year volume
(resumption)

total, km 3 / year

share in reserves
fresh water, %

total, km 3 / year

share in fresh water reserves, %

Rivers

470

0,53

4270,6

41,9

lakes

26500

29,80

530

5,2

swamps

3000

3,37

1000

9,8

Glaciers

15148

17,04

110

1,1

underground ice

15800

17,77

The groundwater

28000

31,49

787,5

7,8

soil moisture

3500

34,3

Total (by accounting positions)

88918

100

10198,1

100

APPENDIX 2

fig.1 "Potential supply of water resources"

APPENDIX 3

Table 2 “Volumes of wastewater coming from industry, agriculture and communal services to the upper reaches of the river. Moscow and its tributaries

Districts

The volume of wastewater from cities and towns

The volume of wastewater from individual enterprises

The volume of wastewater from agricultural facilities

Total for the region

Mozhaisky

24800

18850

43650

Odintsovo

51210

23660

1720

76590

Istra

56986

33440

7400

97876

Ruza

17810

10485

28365

Krasnogorsk

2000

3000

5000

Solnechnogorsk

5968

5968

Volokolamsk

1270

1270

Total

160044

89435

9190

258669

(according to MosvodokanalNIIproject)

APPENDIX 4

Table 3 "Areas of irrigated and drained lands in Russia and neighboring countries"

Year

Land area, million ha

drained

irrigated

Total

1970

7,4

10,9

18,3

1975

10,1

14,2

24,3

1980

12,6

17,3

29,9

1986

14,9

20,2

35,1

APPENDIX 5

Table 4 "Main hydrological characteristics of the largest lakes in Russia"

Lake

Square

mirrors, km 2

Depth, m

water reserves,

km 3

Surface

inflow, km 3 / year

Medium

The largest

Caspian Sea

395 000

190

980

76 040

266,4

Baikal

31 500

730

1741

23 000

60,1

Ladoga

17 700

230

908

74,8

Onega

9720

127

285

19,9

Taimyr

4560

2,8

0,3

Khanka

4190

10,6

18,5

Chudsko-Pskovskoye

3550

7,1

35,2

12,2

The problem is divided into two parts - violation of the hydrogeological and hydrological regime, as well as quality of water resources.

The development of mineral deposits is accompanied by a sharp decrease in the level of groundwater, the excavation and movement of empty and ore-bearing rocks, the formation of open pits, pits, shafts of open and closed reservoirs, subsidence of the earth's crust, dams, dams and other artificial landforms. The volume of water drawdowns, excavations and rock shafts is exceptionally large. For example, on the territory of the KMA, the area of ​​groundwater level decrease reaches several tens of thousands of square kilometers.

Due to the difference in the intensity of the use of water resources and the technogenic impact on natural geological conditions in the areas of the KMA, the natural regime of groundwater has been significantly disturbed. Due to the decrease in the levels of aquifers in the area of ​​the city of Kursk, a depression funnel was formed, which in the west interacts with the depression funnel of the Mikhailovsky mine, so that the radius of the depression funnel exceeds 100 km. On rivers and reservoirs located in the zone of influence of depression funnels, the following occurs:

Ø partial or complete cessation of underground power supply;

Ø filtration of river waters into the underlying aquifers when the groundwater level drops below the incision of the hydrographic network;

Ø increase in runoff in cases of diversion to surface water bodies after the use of groundwater from deep aquifers not drained by the river.

The total water consumption of the Kursk region is 564.2 thousand m 3 /day, the city of Kursk - 399.3 thousand m 3 /day.

Significant damage to the water supply of the population with high-quality water is caused by pollution of open reservoirs and underground aquifers with runoff and industrial waste, which causes a shortage of fresh drinking water. Of the total water used for drinking purposes, 30% comes from decentralized sources. Of the selected water samples, 28% do not meet hygienic requirements, 29.4% - bacteriological indicators. Over 50% of drinking water sources do not have sanitary protection zones.

In 1999, harmful substances were discharged into open water bodies of the Kursk region: copper - 0.29 tons, zinc - 0.63 tons, ammonium nitrogen - 0.229 thousand tons, suspended solids - 0.59 thousand tons, oil products - 0.01 thousand .t. Under control are 12 outlets of enterprises whose wastewater enters surface water bodies.

Practically all controlled water bodies belong to the 2nd category in terms of pollution level, when pollution is caused by several ingredients (MAC - 2MAC). The largest share in the pollution of the largest river of the Kursk, the Seima, is contributed by copper compounds (87%), petroleum products (51%), nitrate nitrogen (62%), ammonium nitrogen (55%), phosphates (41%), synthetic surfactants (29 %).

The groundwater level in the Kursk region ranges from 0.3 m to 100 m (the maximum is 115 m). Chemical, bacteriological pollution of groundwater has now reduced the operational reserves of groundwater and increased the shortage of household and drinking water supply for the population. Chemical pollution is marked by an increased content of oil products, sulfates, iron, chromium, manganese, organic pollutants, heavy metal chlorides, nitrates and nitrites. The main sources of wastewater pollution are domestic effluents and waste (1.5 million m 3 per year of household waste and 34 million tons of industrial waste of hazard classes 1-4).

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Ministry of Education and Science of Russia

federal state budgetary educational institution

higher professional education

"St. Petersburg State Technological Institute

(Technical University)"

UGS (code, name) 080000 Economics and management

Area of ​​study (code, name) 080100.62 Economics

Profile (name) Economics of enterprises and organizations

Faculty of Economics and Management

Department of __Economics and Organization of Production___

Academic discipline Environmental management

Report

Topic: Environmental problems of water resources

Student Shtanko I.P.

Saint Petersburg 2013

Introduction

Water is one of the most common on Earth and unusual in its properties. chemical compounds. Without water, life itself cannot exist. Water, a carrier of mechanical and thermal energy, plays an important role in the exchange of matter and energy between the geospheres and geographic regions of the Earth. This is largely facilitated by her anomalous physical and Chemical properties. One of the founders of geochemistry, V.I. Vernadsky, wrote: "Water stands apart in the history of our planet. There is no natural body that could be compared with it in terms of its influence on the course of the main, most grandiose geological processes. There is no terrestrial substance - a mineral, a rock, a living body that would not All terrestrial matter - under the influence of the particular forces inherent in water, its vaporous state, its omnipresence in the upper part of the planet - is permeated and embraced by it.

Hydrology is a complex of sciences that study natural waters on Earth and hydrological processes. The term "hydrology" (hydros - water, logos - science) was first mentioned in 1694 in a book containing "the beginnings of the doctrine of the waters" published by Melchior in Frankfurt am Main, and the first hydrological observations, according to the American hydrologist Raymond Nice, 5000 years ago carried out on the river. Nile Egyptians, who annually recorded the height of the floods on the rocks, walls of buildings, steps of coastal stairs. But hydrology took shape as an independent science only at the beginning of the 20th century and developed productively, relying on the fundamental sciences: physics, chemistry, and mathematics. It is most closely associated with meteorology and climatology, as well as with geology, biology, soil science and geochemistry.

In the last 50 - 60 years, the branch of hydrology - land hydrology - has received the greatest development. This is a consequence of the rapidly increasing use of fresh water, its increased role in the development of the economy and the life of human society. The most important task of land hydrology is the assessment of changes in water resources as a source of water supply and water consumption. A special place is occupied by a quantitative assessment of changes in time and space of river water flow, which constitutes the main, annually renewable water resources and provides the bulk of possible water consumption for economic needs. Modern studies of water resources, especially in terms of predicting them for the future, are closely related to global climate change and the impact of human economic activity on water bodies.

The result of not always reasonable human economic activity has been an increase in irretrievable water consumption (until the complete depletion of water sources) and threatening pollution of natural waters, which often makes irreversible changes in the water balance and environmental conditions of vast areas. This led to the emergence of a new direction of hydrological science - hydrological-ecological, which is at the same time an important component of geoecology - a science that studies irreversible processes and phenomena in the natural environment and biosphere, resulting from intense anthropogenic impact, as well as close and remote consequences of these impacts in time. .

The main attention in the article is paid to annually renewable fresh water resources - river runoff, since water reserves concentrated in lakes and underground horizons are still poorly used. On the territory of Russia, less than 1% of the total reserves of lake waters (about 25,000 km3) are used, and less than 10% of the potential operational reserves of groundwater are annually extracted from underground horizons. This is mainly due to the peculiarities of the geographical location of lakes and groundwater reserves: most of them are concentrated in areas of excessive and sufficient moisture, for example, 23,000 km3 of lake water is located in Lake Baikal, where there are few water users and much more accessible river water.

1. Water availability and main water problems

World fresh water reserves are 34,980 thousand km3, and annually renewable (total annual river flow) - 46,800 km3 per year. The current total water consumption in the world is 4130 km3 per year, and irretrievable - 2360 km3 per year. The reserves of fresh surface and ground waters on the territory of the Russian Federation amount to more than 2 million km3, and annually renewable water resources - 4270 km3 per year. The average water supply of river runoff for each inhabitant of Russia is about 31 thousand m3 per year, and the specific water resources per unit area (1 km2) exceed 250 thousand m3 per year. But in the most densely populated southern and central regions of the European part of Russia, water availability is very low: in the North Caucasus and Central Chernozem regions, the total water resources are about 90 km3 per year, and locally formed waters are only 60 km3 per year.

The world's water resources are even more unevenly distributed over the Earth's territory, they are not unlimited and become the main factor limiting sustainable economic development in many regions. Everywhere the need for fresh water is increasing to meet the needs of a growing population, urbanization, industrial development, irrigation for food, etc. This situation is undoubtedly getting worse with population growth, surface and groundwater pollution and the threat of climate change. There are even forecasts that with a doubling of the world population by the middle of the next century and with rapidly growing demands, a global water crisis will come in a few years. Under these circumstances, the world's fresh water resources could become a source of conflict in some of the 200 international river basins. In addition, the growth of the population, concentrating around rivers as the main sources of water, will inevitably lead to a significant increase in flood victims, the number of which still makes up 25% of the total number of victims of all natural disasters on Earth, and the number of people suffering from floods annually is equal to the number of people suffering from floods. from droughts (32 and 33%). Because drought suffering is exacerbated by water scarcity, it follows that disasters caused by temporary excess or lack of water account for 65% of the total affected population.

In recent decades, in many countries of the world, there has been a deterioration in the ecological state of water bodies on land (rivers, lakes, reservoirs) and the territories adjacent to them. This is primarily due to the significantly increased anthropogenic impact on natural waters. It manifests itself in a change in water reserves, the hydrological regime of watercourses and reservoirs, and especially in a change in water quality. According to the nature of the impact on resources, the regime and quality of land water bodies, the factors of economic activity are combined into three groups.

1. Factors that directly affect a water body through direct withdrawals of water and discharges of natural and waste waters or due to the transformation of the morphological elements of watercourses and reservoirs (creation of reservoirs and ponds in riverbeds, embankment and straightening of riverbeds).

2. Factors affecting the water body by changing the surface of river catchments and individual territories (agrotechnical measures, drainage of swamps and wetlands, deforestation and planting, urbanization, etc.).

3. Factors affecting the main elements of moisture circulation within specific river catchment areas and individual territories through changes in climatic characteristics on a global and regional scale.

2. Withdrawal of river runoff

The problem of accounting for quantitative changes in water resources under the influence of economic activity arose in the 1950s, when water consumption increased sharply throughout the world. If for the period from 1900 to 1950 the average increase in water consumption per decade was 156 km3, then from 1950 to 1960 it was 630 km3, that is, it increased 4 times, and in subsequent years it increased by 800 - 1000 km3 per decade. River flow is used most intensively in Europe and Asia (about 13% of the total annual volume), somewhat less - in North America (about 8%) and much less - in Africa, Australia and South America (from 1 to 3% of the volume of water resources) . At the same time, there are large regions on all continents where the intensity of river runoff use reaches 30–65% of the total volume of river water resources.

In Russia, the river flow is most intensively used in the southern regions of the European part of the territory. Therefore, if the annual flow of the river. Volga decreased by 10% compared with the natural flow rate, then the flow of the rivers Don, Kuban, Terek - by 25 - 40%. In general, in the CIS countries, the annual decrease in the total river flow is approximately 150 km3, which is only 3-5% of the total water resources. But the largest decrease in runoff due to the anthropogenic factor, reaching 30%, also falls on the rivers of the southern regions, where natural water resources amount to 490 km3 per year, or 11% of the total runoff of CIS rivers (4500 km3 per year). Together with the unfavorable ecological situation in the river basins of the southern regions of the CIS, as a result of excessive withdrawal of river flow, an unfavorable ecological situation has developed in many natural reservoirs that they feed - lakes Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, Sevan, and the Aral Sea and the entire Aral Sea region have been declared an ecological disaster zone , since the withdrawal of runoff from the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers that feed it exceeds 90% of the annual flow rate.

Small rivers

Factors affecting water bodies by changing the surface of river catchment areas have a particularly noticeable effect on the ecological state of small rivers. Small rivers include rivers with a length of 26 to 100 km, which corresponds to rivers with catchment areas from 150 to 1500 km. Small rivers play a decisive role in the formation of water resources; in the European part of Russia, they account for about 80% of the average long-term flow. In some areas, the resource-forming role of small rivers is even more significant.

One of the main features of small rivers is the close relationship between runoff formation and the landscape of the basin. This causes the extraordinary vulnerability of rivers during intensive development of the catchment area. Increasing plowing of land, lagging behind soil protection measures and plowing to the water's edge, deforestation and draining of swamps in their watersheds, the construction of large livestock complexes, farms and poultry farms without accompanying environmental measures and the discharge of wastewater into rivers without proper treatment quickly lead to a violation of the environmental situation , accelerating the aging of small rivers. Rational integrated use of the resources of small rivers, their protection from pollution and depletion require urgent measures. Without reasonable regulation of the growing water load on small rivers, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the rational use and protection of large territories and large rivers.

Water pollution

The most acute hydrological problem was the change in the quality of natural waters and the state of aquatic ecosystems under the influence of economic activity. The rapid spread of substances of anthropogenic origin has led to the fact that there are practically no freshwater ecosystems left on the Earth's surface, the water quality of which would not change to one degree or another. The consequence of chemical and physical impacts of anthropogenic origin is a change in the composition of bottom sediments and living matter of water bodies.

The largest number of pollutants enters water bodies from enterprises of the oil refining, chemical, pulp and paper, metallurgical, and textile industries. The formation of the chemical composition of surface and groundwater under anthropogenic impact is characterized by: 1) an increase (or decrease) in the concentration of those components of natural waters that are usually present in unpolluted water; 2) a change in the direction of natural hydrochemical processes; 3) water enrichment with substances alien to natural water. For example, if the surface of the water is covered with a film of oil, fatty acids or other floating pollutants coming with sewage, then many chemical and biochemical processes change significantly, as the supply of oxygen and light to the water is limited, water evaporation decreases, and the state of the carbonate system changes.

The problem of self-purification and purification of water systems, protection of water from pollution has become not only hydrological. Chemists, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, hydrogeologists take part in its solution.

climate change

In 1979, an expert conference was convened in Geneva by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, and other international organizations on the relationship between climate and human activities. Experts in various fields of knowledge gathered at the conference came to the conclusion that along with natural climate fluctuations associated with a change in the energy supply from the Sun, its redistribution between the main reservoirs of the Earth (atmosphere, oceans and glaciers), with volcanic emissions, a significant impact on the climate has become perform human activities. The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and changes in land use, emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides have led to an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is an extremely important factor determining the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere. This causes additional changes in the distribution of temperature, precipitation and other meteorological parameters of the atmosphere, which, affecting local climate changes, may be favorable or unfavorable for human life and economic activity.

An analysis of stationary observations and numerous scientific studies over the past 15 years confirm the anthropogenic impact on climate change in the 20th century. Therefore, attention to the impact of greenhouse gases on the climate and the consequences of its changes has increased so much in recent years that it has become necessary to adopt the International Agreement on the Limitation of Emissions of Industrial Wastes into the Atmosphere - the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Progress has been made in the development of climate change forecasts. They are based on the hypothesis of a change in the temperature gradient between the equator and the poles, which causes changes in the circulation of the atmosphere. If the northern polar region cools more than the equatorial region, then the monsoon belts in Asia and Africa and the baroclinic zones of temperate latitudes, in which westerly winds predominate, will shift towards the equator. With a relative increase in temperature at the poles, the opposite picture will be observed. This hypothesis is supported by paleoclimatic data and numerical simulations. Changes in the transfer zones of humid air masses inevitably affect the amount and seasonal distribution of precipitation, and, consequently, the runoff of rivers and total water resources, since under natural conditions the annual formation of water resources is determined by the difference in the main elements of the water balance - the amount of precipitation and evaporation from watersheds rec.

Global warming since the beginning of the 20th century to date has amounted to about 0.5?С, and local changes in the amount of precipitation reach significant values. Obviously, in the next 50 years, the Earth's climate will evolve under the influence of continuous natural variations, combined with an ongoing warming trend due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This warming trend is being slowed down by the thermal inertia of the oceans, but it will continue long after atmospheric composition has stabilized. No matter how drastic actions are taken to control changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, some global warming in the next century appears to be inevitable. Therefore, climatic changes in water resources over the past century and in the future are of interest to water management and other organizations.

Statistical Research Methodology

The assessment of the consequences of the impact of climate change on water resources is based on deterministic modeling of changes in the components of the water balance and a comprehensive statistical analysis of data from long-term (at least 30 years) continuous observations of river water flow. With the use of a bank of hydrological data created with the participation of the author on the points of the longest hydrological observations (150 - 60 years) on the rivers of the globe, the flow of which is not distorted by direct economic activity, a comprehensive statistical analysis of the values ​​of the average monthly and annual water flow was carried out. The main indicators of runoff change under the influence of climate or economic activity are violations of the stationarity of observational data series - significant changes (breaks) in the direction of changes, the presence of stable trends - one-sided deviations of values ​​from their average value.

To assess the spatial regularities of the direction and intensity of runoff changes, only the results of calculations for a 35-year (1951 - 1985) observation period were used using a somewhat simplified method, which is based on a special trend test. The selection of the trend and its analysis were carried out by the least squares method. The statistical parameters necessary for analysis were obtained after preliminary functional smoothing of time series.

Results of a comprehensive analysis of runoff changes

A comprehensive statistical analysis made it possible to establish that in the 20th century, changes in river flow are noted in various latitudinal and climatic conditions of the continents of Eurasia, America, Africa, and Australia. In some areas, climatic changes in runoff in certain periods were so great that violations of the stationarity of the series were noted. Thus, on the rivers of the northwestern part of the territory of Russia, Northern Ukraine and the Baltic countries, significant changes in the water content of rivers occurred in the 1930s, and in the northeastern regions of the European territory of Russia (the basin of the Kama River) in the direction of increase - in 60s (Table 1). In the Asian part of the territory of Russia in the basin of the river. In the 1960s, there was a violation of the stationarity of the series in the Amur River due to significant negative changes, and on the rivers of Siberia and the rest of the Far East, although changes were noted, they did not lead to a violation of the stationarity of the series. On the rivers of Central Asia, where accounting for changes in water resources is of particular importance, the greatest changes towards a decrease in runoff were noted in the 60s. On the rivers of Western and Central Europe, changes in direction towards negative changes were observed at the end of the last century, and in the 80s of the XX century - towards positive changes. Breaks in the series of observations of runoff in the rivers of North America and West Africa occur at the beginning of the 70s, and in Australia - at the end of the 60s. At the same time, the direction of changes in the second half of the 20th century was not the same. For example, there are positive trends in the flow of rivers along the Atlantic coast of North America, there is no change in the inland areas, and negative trends prevail on the Pacific coast. In the runoff of rivers in the subequatorial zone of Australia, positive trends were noted, and in the southeastern tip of the island - negative. water resource ecological

Direction of changes in annual and seasonal runoff

A more detailed study of the direction of runoff changes according to observations on almost 450 rivers in 1951-1985 made it possible to assess the causes and territorial patterns of their spatial distribution. The most detailed studies were carried out on the territory of Eurasia. Changes in the water flow of the rivers of Western and Central Europe in the second half of the 20th century are characterized by a predominance of positive trends, the probability of which increases from west to east and from south to north. The exception is the rivers of the Alpine region, where negative trends are noted or changes are insignificant. In the runoff of the rivers of the Eastern Carpathians, on the territory of Poland, Romania, Ukraine, on the contrary, there is an increased probability of positive changes in the average annual, spring and summer runoff.

On the European territory of Russia, there are no significant changes in the average annual runoff in the flow of most rivers in the Volga basin (except for the Kama and its tributaries), Don, and Dnieper. But the runoff decreases during the spring flood, and increases during the summer-autumn and winter periods. On the rivers of the river basin. The Kama and other rivers flowing from the western slopes of the Northern Urals show positive changes in runoff, while on the rivers of the Middle and Lower Volga regions, changes in the average annual and seasonal runoff are insignificant, with some increase in the winter months. On the rivers of the north of the European part of Russia, there is a decrease in runoff during the high-water period of the spring flood and its increase in the winter months. On fig. Figure 3 shows the long-term course of the average annual runoff on the Volga (in the upper reaches), the Northern Dvina, and the Bolshoy Naryn (Central Asia) rivers.

On the rivers of Siberia within 50 - 60? With. sh. there are positive changes in the average annual runoff and a high-water spring period, which indicates an increase in the amount of precipitation in the winter months. North of 60? With. sh. and south of 40? With. sh. runoff changes are either insignificant or negative. On the rivers of the Far East, which form the runoff in the conditions of the monsoon climate, there is an increase in the winter and spring periods, but a decrease in the high-water summer periods.

To determine the causes of changes in water runoff in the second half of the 20th century, tests were carried out on the trend of the sums of average annual and seasonal precipitation at 150 meteorological stations in the CIS. An analysis of the results indicates that annual and winter precipitation in most of the territory is within 50 - 60? With. sh. positive changes were observed, except for the northwestern part of the territory. And to the north and south, the changes are either insignificant or negative (in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Primorye, the Baltic States). Given the fact that for most of the rivers of the territory under consideration, the main source of runoff formation is precipitation accumulated during the winter in the form of snow cover, it is quite possible to explain why positive changes in water runoff occur in the territory within 50–60? With. sh., and negative ones are observed in the south of the Far East, the north-west of the European territory of the CIS and in Central Asia, where the amount of annual and seasonal precipitation in the second half of the century tended to decrease.

Conclusion

The problem of providing drinking water to a growing population and warning of catastrophic floods and floods is becoming one of the most important not only for hydrological science. Global warming of the Earth's climate and the increasing anthropogenic pressure on water bodies complicate the development of water supply systems and hydrological forecasts for changes in renewable water resources - river water flow. As economic activity develops, the dependence of water resources on climate change increases. The results of a comprehensive statistical analysis of observational data on the runoff of rivers on different continents of the globe indicate the presence of directed changes in runoff in the 20th century, which in some areas are so significant that they can be quantitatively estimated and predicted. The direction of these changes depends mainly on the latitudinal redistribution of annual and seasonal precipitation amounts. The increase in the amount of precipitation observed in some regions of Russia and the increase in air temperature in the cold and transitional periods of the year are favorably reflected in the flow of river water. But in a number of regions (northwest and south of Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, inland regions of America), on the contrary, there has been a tendency to reduce the amount of annually renewable water resources.

The continuing increase in water intake from rivers and freshwater bodies, pollution of water bodies increase the risk of a water crisis in areas of adverse changes in river flow. In order to prevent a water crisis, in addition to strengthening administrative measures for the protection of natural resources, it is necessary to organize a broad geoecological education of the population, especially young people. This will contribute to the integrity of the perception of changes in the landscape shell of the Earth, the need to preserve natural links between its components: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere from destruction.

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