Water is the most abundant substance on our planet: although in varying amounts, it is available everywhere and plays a vital role for the environment and living organisms. Fresh water is of the greatest importance, without which human existence is impossible, and it cannot be replaced by anything. People have always consumed fresh water and used it for a variety of purposes, including domestic, agricultural, industrial and recreational uses.

Water reserves on Earth

Water exists in three aggregate states: liquid, solid and gaseous. It forms the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and groundwater located in the upper layer of the crust, and the soil cover of the Earth. In the solid state, it exists in the form of snow and ice in polar and mountainous regions. A certain amount of water is contained in the air in the form of water vapor. Huge volumes of water are found in various minerals in the earth's crust.

Determining the exact amount of water in the world is quite difficult, since water is dynamic and is in constant motion, changing its state from liquid to solid to gaseous, and vice versa. As a rule, the total amount of water resources of the world is estimated as the totality of all waters of the hydrosphere. This is all free water that exists in all three states of aggregation in the atmosphere, on the surface of the Earth and in the earth's crust to a depth of 2000 meters.

Current estimates have shown that our planet contains a huge amount of water - about 1386,000,000 cubic kilometers (1.386 billion km³). However, 97.5% of this volume is salt water and only 2.5% is fresh water. Most of the fresh water (68.7%) is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Antarctic, Arctic, and mountain regions. Further, 29.9% exists as groundwater, and only 0.26% of the total fresh water on Earth is concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river systems, where it is most readily available for our economic needs.

These indicators were calculated over a long period of time, however, if shorter periods (one year, several seasons or months) are taken into account, the amount of water in the hydrosphere may change. It has to do with the exchange of water between the oceans, land and atmosphere. This exchange is generally referred to as the , or global hydrological cycle.

Fresh water resources

Fresh water contains a minimum amount of salts (no more than 0.1%) and is suitable for human needs. However, not all resources are available to people, and even those that are available are not always usable. Consider fresh water sources:

• Glaciers and snow covers occupy about 1/10 of the world's land and contain about 70% of fresh water. Unfortunately, most of these resources are located far from settlements, and therefore are difficult to access.
• Groundwater is by far the most common and accessible source of fresh water.
• Freshwater lakes are mainly located at high altitudes. Canada contains about 50% of the world's freshwater lakes. Many lakes, especially those located in arid regions, become salty due to evaporation. The Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Great Salt Lake are among the world's largest salt lakes.
• The rivers form a hydrological mosaic. There are 263 international river basins on Earth, which cover more than 45% of the land of our planet (the exception is Antarctica).

Water resources objects

The main objects of water resources are:

• oceans and seas;
• lakes, ponds and reservoirs;
• swamps;
• rivers, canals and streams;
• soil moisture;
• underground waters (soil, ground, interstratal, artesian, mineral);
• ice caps and glaciers;
• atmospheric precipitation (rain, snow, dew, hail, etc.).

Problems in the use of water resources

For many hundreds of years, human impact on water resources was insignificant and was of an exclusively local nature. The excellent properties of water - its renewal due to the circulation and the ability to purify - make fresh water relatively purified and with quantitative and qualitative characteristics that will remain unchanged for a long time.

However, these features of water gave rise to the illusion of the immutability and inexhaustibility of these resources. Out of these prejudices, a tradition has arisen of the careless use of vital water resources.

The situation has changed a lot in recent decades. In many parts of the world, the results of long-term and wrong actions towards such a valuable resource have been discovered. This applies to both direct and indirect use of water.

Throughout the world, for 25-30 years, there has been a massive anthropogenic change in the hydrological cycle of rivers and lakes, affecting the quality of water and their potential as a natural resource.

The volume of water resources, their spatial and temporal distribution, are determined not only by natural climate fluctuations, as before, but now also by the types of economic activities of people. Many parts of the world's water resources are becoming so depleted and heavily polluted that they can no longer meet ever-increasing demands. It may
become the main factor hindering economic development and population growth.

Water pollution

The main causes of water pollution are:

• Wastewater;

Domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater pollutes many rivers and lakes.

• Waste disposal in the seas and oceans;

The dumping of garbage in the seas and oceans can cause huge problems, because it negatively affects the living organisms that live in the waters.

• Industry;

Industry is a huge source of water pollution, which produces substances that are harmful to people and the environment.

• radioactive substances;

Radioactive pollution, in which there is a high concentration of radiation in the water, is the most dangerous pollution and can spread into ocean waters.

• Oil spill;

An oil spill poses a threat not only to water resources, but also to human settlements located near a contaminated source, as well as to all biological resources for which water is a habitat or a vital necessity.

• Leaks of oil and oil products from underground storage facilities;

A large amount of oil and oil products are stored in tanks made of steel, which corrodes over time, which in consequence creates leakage of harmful substances into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

• Precipitation;

Precipitation, such as acid precipitation, is formed when air is polluted and changes the acidity of water.

• Global warming;

An increase in water temperature causes the death of many living organisms and destroys a large number of habitats.

• Eutrophication.

Eutrophication is the process of reducing the quality characteristics of water associated with excessive enrichment with nutrients.

Rational use and protection of water resources

Water resources provide for rational use and protection, from individuals to enterprises and states. There are many ways we can reduce our impact on the aquatic environment. Here are some of them:

Water saving

Factors such as climate change, population growth and increasing aridity are increasing pressure on our water resources. The best way to conserve water is to reduce consumption and avoid rising wastewater.

At the household level, there are many ways to save water, such as: shorter showers, installing water-saving appliances, and low-flow washing machines. Another approach is to plant gardens that do not require much water.

Looking at our planet from the height of space, a comparison immediately suggests itself with a blue ball, which is completely covered with water. The continents at this time seem like small islands in this endless ocean. This is quite natural, because water occupies 79.8% of the entire surface, and 29.2% falls on land. The water shell of the Earth is called the hydrosphere, its volume is 1.4 billion m 3.

Water resources and their purpose

Water resources- it is suitable for use in the economy of the water of rivers, lakes, canals, reservoirs, seas and oceans. This also includes groundwater, soil moisture, swamps, glaciers, and atmospheric water vapor.

Water arose on the planet about 3.5 billion years ago and initially it had the form of vapors that were released during the degassing of the mantle. Today, water is the most important element in the Earth's biosphere, because nothing can replace it. However, recently, water resources have ceased to be considered limited, because scientists have managed to desalinate salt water.

Purpose of water resources- support the vital activity of all life on Earth (human, plants and animals). Water is the basis of all living things and the main supplier of oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. Water also takes part in climate formation - taking heat from the atmosphere in order to give it away in the future, thereby regulating climatic processes.

We should also remember that water sources play an honorable role in the modification of our planet. People have always settled near reservoirs or water sources. Thus, water promotes communication. There is a hypothesis among scientists that if there were no water on Earth, the discovery of America would be postponed by several centuries. And Australia would still be unknown today.

Types of water resources

As already said water resources is all the water on the planet. But on the other hand, water is the most common and most specific compound on Earth, because only it can exist in three states (liquid, gaseous and solid).

The earth's water resources are made up of:

• surface water(oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, swamps) is the most valuable source of fresh water, but the thing is that these objects are distributed quite unevenly over the Earth's surface. So, in the equatorial zone, as well as in the northern part of the temperate zone, water is in excess (25 thousand m 3 per year per person). And the tropical continents, which consist of 1/3 of the land, are very acutely aware of the shortage of water reserves. Based on this situation, their agriculture develops only under the condition of artificial irrigation;
• groundwater;
• reservoirs created artificially by man;
• glaciers and snowfields (frozen water of the glaciers of Antarctica, the Arctic and snowy mountain peaks). It contains the largest part of fresh water. However, these reserves are practically inaccessible for use. If all the glaciers are distributed over the Earth, then this ice will cover the earth with a ball 53 cm high, and having melted it, we thereby raise the level of the World Ocean by 64 meters;
• moisture what is found in plants and animals;
• vapor state of the atmosphere.

Water consumption

The total volume of the hydrosphere is striking in its quantity, however, only 2% of this figure is fresh water, moreover, only 0.3% is available for use. Scientists have calculated the fresh water resources that are necessary for all mankind, animals and plants. It turns out that the supply of water resources on the planet is only 2.5% of the water of the required volume.

Around the world, about 5 thousand m 3 are consumed annually, while more than half of the water consumed is irretrievably lost. In percentage terms, the consumption of water resources will have the following characteristics:

• agriculture - 63%;

• industrial water consumption - 27% of the total;

• household needs take 6%;
• reservoirs consume 4%.

Few people know that it takes 10,000 tons of water to grow 1 ton of cotton, 1,500 tons of water to grow 1 ton of wheat, 250 tons of water to produce 1 ton of steel, and 1 ton of paper requires at least 236,000 tons of water.

A person per day should consume at least 2.5 liters of water, but on average this person spends at least 360 liters per day in a large city, since this figure includes all kinds of water use, including watering the streets, washing vehicles and even fire fighting.

But the consumption of water resources does not end there. This is evidenced, for example, by water transport or the process of breeding both marine and fresh fish. Moreover, for breeding fish, you will need exceptionally clean water, saturated with oxygen and without the content of harmful impurities.

A huge example of the use of water resources are recreational areas. There is no such person who would not like to relax by the pond, relax, swim. In the world, almost 90% of recreational areas are located near water bodies.

The need to protect water resources

Considering the current situation, we can conclude that water requires a careful attitude towards itself. Currently, there are two ways to save water resources:

• reduce fresh water consumption;
• creation of modern collectors of high quality.

The conservation of water in reservoirs limits its flow into the world's oceans. Storing water underground helps prevent evaporation. The construction of canals can easily solve the problem of water delivery without its penetration into the ground. Humanity is also thinking about the latest methods of irrigating agricultural land, allowing to moisten the territory using wastewater.

But each of the above ways actually affects the biosphere. The system of reservoirs, for example, does not allow the formation of fertile silt deposits, channels interfere with the replenishment of groundwater. Therefore, today one of the most effective ways to conserve water resources is wastewater treatment. Science does not stand still in this regard, and various methods can neutralize or remove up to 96% of harmful substances.

The problem of water pollution

Population growth, the rise of production and agriculture ... These factors contributed to the shortage of fresh water. In addition to everything, the share of polluted water resources is also growing.

Main sources of pollution:

• industrial effluents;
• sewage from utility lines;
• plums from the fields (meaning when they are oversaturated with chemicals and fertilizers;
• burial of radioactive substances near water bodies;
• effluents coming from livestock complexes (water is characterized by an excess of biogenic organic matter);
• shipping.

Nature provides for the self-purification of water bodies. This happens due to the presence of plankton in the water, the ingress of ultraviolet rays into the water, and the settling of insoluble particles. But unfortunately pollution is much greater and nature alone is not able to cope with such a mass of harmful substances that man and his activities provide to water resources.

Extraordinary sources of drinking water

Recently, mankind has thought about how to use non-traditional sources of water resources. Here are the main ones:

• tow icebergs from the Arctic or Antarctica;
• carry out desalination of sea waters (actively used at the moment);
• condense the water of the atmosphere.

In order to obtain fresh water by desalination of salt water, desalination stations are installed on ships. In the whole world, there are already about a hundred such units. The world's largest producer of such water is Kuwait.

Fresh water has recently acquired the status of a world commodity, it is transported in tankers using long-distance water pipelines. This scheme has been successful in the following areas:

• the Netherlands receives water from Norway;
• Saudi Arabia receives a resource from the Philippines;
• Singapore imports from Malaysia;
• water is pumped from Greenland and Antarctica to Europe;
• The Amazon transports drinking water to Africa.

One of the latest achievements is the installations with the help of which the heat of nuclear reactors is used simultaneously for the desalination of sea water and the production of electricity. At the same time, the price of one liter of water costs a little, since the productivity of such installations is quite large. Water that has passed through this path is recommended to be used for irrigation.

Reservoirs can also help overcome fresh water scarcity by regulating river flow. In total, more than 30 thousand reservoirs have been built in the world. In most countries, there are projects for the redistribution of river flow through its transfer. But, the largest such programs have been rejected due to environmental considerations.

Water resources of the Russian Federation

Our country has a unique water resource potential. However, their main drawback is their extreme uneven distribution. So, if we compare the Southern and Far Eastern federal districts of Russia, then they differ from each other by 30 times in terms of local water resources, and 100 times in terms of water supply.

Rivers of Russia

Thinking about the water resources of Russia, first of all, it should be noted the rivers. Their volume is 4,270 km3. There are 4 water basins on the territory of Russia:

• the seas of the Arctic and Arctic Oceans, as well as the large rivers flowing into them (Northern Dvina, Pechora, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma);
• the seas of the Pacific Ocean (Amur and Anadyr);
• seas of the Atlantic Ocean (Don, Kuban, Neva);
• the inner basin of the Caspian Sea and the flowing Volga and Ural.

Since in the central regions the population density is greater than, for example, in Siberia, this leads to the disappearance of small rivers and water pollution in general.

Lakes and swamps of Russia

Half of all fresh water in the country falls on lakes. Their number in the country is approximately 2 million. Of these, large:

• Baikal;
• Ladoga;
• Onega;
• Taimyr;
• Khanka;
• Vats;
• Ilmen;
• White.

A special position should be given to Lake Baikal, because 90% of our fresh water reserves are concentrated in it. In addition to being the deepest lake on earth, it is also characterized by a unique ecosystem. Baikal is also included in the UNESCO list of natural heritage.

The lakes of the Russian Federation are used for irrigation and as sources for water supply. Some of the listed lakes have a decent supply of therapeutic mud and therefore they are used for recreation purposes. As well as for rivers, lakes are characterized by their uneven distribution. They are mainly concentrated in the North-Western part of the country (Kola Peninsula and the Republic of Karelia), the Ural region, Siberia and Transbaikalia.

The swamps of Russia also play an important role, although many people treat them disrespectfully, draining them. Such actions lead to the death of entire huge ecosystems, and as a result of this, rivers do not have the opportunity to cleanse themselves naturally. The swamps also feed the rivers, act as their controlled object during floods and floods. And of course, swamps are a source of peat reserves.

These elements of water resources are distributed in the North-West and North-Central parts of Siberia, the total area of ​​swamps in Russia is 1.4 million km2.

As you can see, Russia has a large water resource potential, but we should not forget about the balanced use of this resource, treat it with care, because anthropogenic factors and huge consumption lead to pollution and depletion of water resources.

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The total volume of static water resources in Russia is estimated at approximately 88.9 thousand km 3 of fresh water, of which a significant part is concentrated in groundwater, lakes and glaciers, the estimated share of which is 31%, 30% and 17%, respectively. The share of Russian static fresh water reserves in the global resources is on average about 20% (excluding glaciers and groundwater). Depending on the type of water sources, this indicator varies from 0.1% (for glaciers) to 30% (for lakes).

The dynamic reserves of water resources in Russia amount to 4,258.6 km 3 per year (more than 10% of the world indicator), which makes Russia the second country in the world in terms of gross volume of water resources after Brazil. At the same time, according to such an indicator as the availability of water resources, Russia ranks 28th in the world ().

Russia has significant water resources and annually uses no more than 2% of their dynamic reserves; At the same time, a number of regions experience a shortage of water, which is mainly due to the uneven distribution of water resources across the country - the most developed areas of the European part of Russia, where more than 80% of the population is concentrated, account for no more than 10–15% of water resources.

Rivers

The river network of Russia is one of the most developed in the world: there are about 2.7 million rivers and streams on the territory of the state.

Over 90% of the rivers belong to the basins of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans; 10% - to the Atlantic Ocean basin (Baltic and Azov-Black Sea basins) and drainless internal basins, the largest of which is the Caspian Sea basin. At the same time, about 87% of the population of Russia lives in the regions belonging to the basins of the Caspian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and the main part of the economic infrastructure, industrial production capacities and productive agricultural land is concentrated.

The length of the vast majority of Russian rivers does not exceed 100 km; a significant part of them are rivers less than 10 km long. They represent about 95% of the more than 8 million km of the Russian river network. Small rivers and streams are the main element of the channel network of watershed areas. Up to 44% of the population of Russia lives in their basins, including almost 90% of the rural population.

The average long-term river flow of Russian rivers is 4258.6 km 3 per year, most of this volume is formed on the territory of the Russian Federation and only a small part comes from the territory of neighboring states. River runoff is unevenly distributed across the regions of Russia - the average annual rate varies from 0.83 km 3 per year in the Republic of Crimea to 930.2 km 3 per year in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The average in Russia is 0.49 km/km 2, while the spread of this indicator is uneven for different regions - from 0.02 km/km 2 in the Republic of Crimea to 6.75 km/km 2 in the Altai Republic.

A feature of the structure of the river network of Russia is the predominantly meridional direction of flow of most rivers.

The largest rivers in Russia

The question of which river is the largest in Russia can be answered in different ways - it all depends on what indicator to compare. The main indicators of rivers are the area of ​​the basin, length, average long-term flow. It is also possible to compare by such indicators as the density of the river network of the basin and others.

The largest water systems in Russia in terms of basin area are the systems of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur and Volga; the total area of ​​the basins of these rivers is over 11 million km 2 (including the foreign parts of the basins of the Ob, Yenisei, Amur and, slightly, the Volga).

About 96% of all lake water reserves are concentrated in the eight largest lakes in Russia (excluding the Caspian Sea), of which 95.2% is located in Lake Baikal.

The largest lakes in Russia

When determining which lake is the largest, it is important to determine the indicator by which the comparison will be made.The main indicators of lakes are the area of ​​the mirror and the area of ​​the basin, the average and maximum depths, the volume of water, salinity, height above sea level, etc.The undisputed leader in most indicators (area, volume, basin area) is the Caspian Sea.

The largest mirror area is near the Caspian Sea (390,000 km 2), Baikal (31,500 km 2), Lake Ladoga (18,300 km 2), Lake Onega (9,720 km 2) and Lake Taimyr (4,560 km 2).

The largest lakes in terms of catchment area are the Caspian (3,100,000 km 2), Baikal (571,000 km 2), Ladoga (282,700 km 2), Ubsu-Nur on the border of Mongolia and Russia (71,100 km 2) and Vuoksa (68,500 km 2).

The deepest lake not only in Russia, but also in the world is Baikal (1642 m). The next are the Caspian Sea (1025 m), Khantayskoye (420 m), Koltsevoe (369 m) and Tserik-Kol (368 m) lakes.

The most full-flowing lakes are the Caspian (78,200 km 3), Baikal (23,615 km 3), Ladoga (838 km 3), Onega (295 km 3) and Khantai (82 km 3).

The most salty lake in Russia is Elton (the mineralization of water in the lake in autumn reaches 525‰, which is 1.5 times more than the mineralization of the Dead Sea) in the Volgograd region.

Lake Baikal, Lake Teletskoye and Ubsu-Nur are included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. In 2008, Lake Baikal was recognized as one of the seven wonders of Russia.

reservoirs

About 2,700 reservoirs with a capacity of more than 1 million m 3 with a total useful volume of 342 km 3 are in operation on the territory of Russia, and more than 90% of their number are reservoirs with a capacity of more than 10 million m 3.

The main purposes of using reservoirs:

• water supply;
• Agriculture;
• energy;
• water transport;
• fisheries;
• rafting;
• irrigation;
• recreation (rest);
• flood protection;
• flooding;
• shipping.

The flow of rivers in the European part of Russia is most strongly regulated by reservoirs, where there is a shortage of water resources in certain periods. For example, the flow of the Ural River is regulated by 68%, the Don - by 50%, the Volga - by 40% (reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade).

A significant proportion of the regulated runoff falls on the rivers of the Asian part of Russia, primarily in Eastern Siberia - the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region (the reservoirs of the Angara-Yenisei cascade), as well as the Amur Region in the Far East.

The largest reservoirs in Russia

Due to the fact that the filling of reservoirs seriously depends on seasonal and annual factors, the comparison is usually carried out according to the indicators achieved by the reservoir at (FSL).

The main tasks of reservoirs are the accumulation of water resources and the regulation of river flow, therefore, the important indicators by which the size of reservoirs are determined are total and. It is also possible to compare reservoirs in terms of such parameters as the size of the FSL, the height of the dam, the area of ​​the mirror, the length of the coastline and others.

The largest reservoirs in terms of total volume are located in the eastern regions of Russia: Bratskoye (169,300 million m 3), Zeya (68,420 million m 3), Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk (63,000 million m 3).

The largest reservoirs in Russia in terms of useful volume are Bratskoye (48,200 million m 3), Kuibyshevskoye (34,600 million m 3), Zeya (32,120 million m 3), Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk (31,500 million m located in the east; The European part of Russia is represented by only one reservoir, Kuibyshev, located in five regions of the Volga region.

The largest reservoirs in terms of mirror area: Irkutsk on the river. Angara (32,966 km 2), Kuibyshevskoye on the river. Volga (6,488 km 2), Bratskoye on the river. Angara (5,470 km 2), Rybinsk (4,550 km 2) and Volgograd (3,309 km 2) on the river. Volga.

swamps

Wetlands play an important role in shaping the hydrological regime of rivers. Being a stable source of river nutrition, they regulate floods and floods, stretching them in time and height, and within their arrays contribute to the natural purification of river waters from many pollutants. One of the important functions of swamps is carbon storage: swamps bind carbon and thus reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, weakening the greenhouse effect; annually, Russian swamps sequester about 16 million tons of carbon.

The total area of ​​swamps in Russia is more than 1.5 million km2, or 9% of the total area. Swamps are distributed unevenly across the country: the largest number of swamps are concentrated in the northwestern regions of the European part of Russia and in the central regions of the West Siberian Plain; to the south, the process of swamp formation is weakened and almost stops.

The most swampy region is the Murmansk region - swamps make up 39.3% of the total area of ​​the region. The least waterlogged are the Penza and Tula regions, the Republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia and Ingushetia, the city of Moscow (including new territories) - about 0.1%.

The swamp areas range from a few hectares to thousands of square kilometers. About 3,000 km 3 of static water reserves are concentrated in swamps, and their total average annual runoff is estimated at 1,000 km 3 /year.

An important element of swamps is peat - a unique combustible mineral of plant origin, which has and. The total reserves of peat in Russia are about 235 billion tons, or 47% of the world's reserves.

The largest swamps in Russia

The largest swamp in Russia and one of the largest in the world is the Vasyugan swamp (52,000 km 2), located on the territory of four regions of the Russian Federation. - Salymo-Yugansk swamp system (15,000 km 2), Upper Volga wetland complex (2,500 km 2), Selgono-Kharpinsky swamps (1,580 km 2) and Usinsk swamp (1,391 km 2).

Vasyugan swamp is a candidate for inclusion in the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites.

Glaciers

The total number of glaciers in the Russian Federation is over 8 thousand, the area of ​​island and mountain glaciers is about 60 thousand km 2, water reserves are estimated at 13.6 thousand km 3, which makes glaciers one of the largest accumulators of water resources in the country.

In addition, large reserves of fresh water are conserved in the ice of the Arctic, but their volumes are constantly declining and, according to the latest estimates, by 2030 this strategic fresh water reserve may disappear.

Most of Russia's glaciers are represented by ice sheets of the islands and archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean - they contain about 99% of Russia's glacial water resources. Mountain glaciers account for just over 1% of the glacial water supply.

The share of glacial nutrition in the total runoff of rivers originating from glaciers reaches 50% of the annual volume; the average long-term glacial runoff feeding the rivers is estimated at 110 km 3 /year.

Glacial systems of Russia

In terms of glaciation area, the largest are the mountain glacial systems of Kamchatka (905 km 2), the Caucasus (853.6 km 2), Altai (820 km 2), the Koryak Highlands (303.5 km 2) and the Suntar-Khayat ridge (201.6 km 2).

The largest reserves of fresh water are contained in the mountain glacial systems of the Caucasus and Kamchatka (50 km 3 each), Altai (35 km 3), Eastern Sayan (31.8 km 3) and the Suntar-Khayat ridge (12 km 3).

The groundwater

Groundwater accounts for a significant part of fresh water reserves in Russia. In the context of the increasing deterioration in the quality of surface water, fresh groundwater is often the only source of high quality drinking water that is protected from pollution.

The natural reserves of groundwater in Russia are about 28 thousand km 3; forecast resources, according to state monitoring of the state of the subsoil, are about 869,055 thousand m 3 /day - from approximately 1,330 thousand m 3 /day in the Crimean to 250,902 thousand m 3 /day in the Siberian Federal District.

The average availability of forecast groundwater resources in Russia is 6 m 3 /day per person.

HYDROTECHNICAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES

Hydraulic structures (HTS) - structures for the use of water resources, as well as to combat the negative impact of water. Dams, canals, dams, shipping locks, tunnels, etc. GTS make up a significant part of the water management complex of the Russian Federation.

There are about 65,000 GTS in Russia for water management, fuel and energy complexes and transport infrastructure.

To redistribute river flow from areas with an excess of river flow to areas with its deficit, 37 large water management systems have been created (the volume of flow transferred is about 17 billion m 3 /year); about 30 thousand reservoirs and ponds with a total capacity of more than 800 billion m 3 have been built to regulate river flow; to protect settlements, economic facilities and agricultural land, more than 10 thousand km of protective water barriers and ramparts were built.

The reclamation and water management complex of federal property includes more than 60 thousand various hydraulic structures, including more than 230 reservoirs, more than 2 thousand regulating hydroelectric facilities, about 50 thousand km of water supply and waste channels, over 3 thousand km of protective ramparts and dams .

The transport hydroelectric facilities include more than 300 navigable hydraulic structures located on inland waterways and owned by the federal government.

The hydrotechnical structures of Russia are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Part of the GTS is privately owned, over 6,000 are ownerless.

Channels

Artificial canals are an important part of the water system of the Russian Federation. The main tasks of the canals are the redistribution of runoff, navigation, irrigation, and others.

Almost all operating shipping channels of Russia are located in the European part and, with some exceptions, are included in the Unified deep water system of the European part of the country. Some of the canals are historically combined into waterways, for example, Volga-Baltic and North Dvina, consisting of natural (rivers and lakes) and artificial (canals and reservoirs) waterways. There are also sea channels created to reduce the length of sea roads, reduce the risks and dangers of navigation, and increase the passability of water bodies connected with the seas.

The main part of economic (meliorative) canals with a total length of over 50 thousand km is concentrated in the Southern and North Caucasian federal districts, to a lesser extent - in the Central, Volga and southern Siberian federal districts. The total area of ​​reclaimed lands in Russia is 89 thousand km2. Irrigation is of great importance for Russian agriculture, since arable land is located mainly in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, where crop yields fluctuate sharply from year to year depending on weather conditions, and only 35% of arable land is in favorable moisture conditions.

The largest channels in Russia

The largest waterways in Russia are: the Volga-Baltic waterway (861 km), which includes, in addition to natural routes, the Belozersky, Onega bypass, Vytegorsky and Ladoga canals; the White Sea-Baltic Canal (227 km), the Volga-Caspian Canal (188 km), the Moscow Canal (128 km), the North Dvina Waterway (127 km), including the Toporninsky, Kuzminsky, Kishemsky and Vazerinsky channels; Volga-Don Canal (101 km).

The longest economic canals in Russia that take water directly from water bodies (rivers, lakes, reservoirs): North Crimean Canal -, - a legal act regulating relations in the field of water use.

In accordance with Article 2 of the Water Code, the water legislation of Russia consists of the Code itself, other federal laws and the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adopted in accordance with them, as well as by-laws adopted by executive authorities.

Water legislation (laws and regulations issued in accordance with them) is based on the following principles:

Russia’s legal system in the field of use and protection of water bodies is part of Russia’s international treaties and ratified international conventions, such as the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki). , 1992).

Water management

The central link in the field of use and protection of water resources is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia), which exercises the authority to develop state policy and legal regulation in the field of water relations in Russia.

The management of water resources in Russia at the federal level is carried out by the Federal Agency for Water Resources (Rosvodresursy), which is part of the structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

The powers of the Federal Water Resources Agency to provide public services and manage federal property in the regions are exercised by the territorial subdivisions of the agency - basin water administrations (BVU), as well as 51 subordinate institutions. Currently, there are 14 STBs operating in Russia, the structure of which includes departments in all regions of the Russian Federation. The exceptions are the regions of the Crimean Federal District - in accordance with the agreements signed in July-August 2014, part of the powers of Rosvodresurs were transferred by the relevant structures of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea and the Government of Sevastopol.

The management of water resources that are in regional ownership is carried out by the relevant structures of regional administrations.

The management of the federal facilities of the reclamation complex is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation (Department of Land Reclamation), water transport infrastructure facilities - the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation (Federal Agency of Sea and River Transport).

State accounting and monitoring of water resources is carried out by the Federal Water Resources; for maintaining the State Water Register - with the participation of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) and the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra); for maintaining the Russian register of hydraulic structures - with the participation of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) and the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Transport (Rostransnadzor).

Supervision over compliance with the legislation in terms of the use and protection of water bodies is carried out by the Federal Service for Nature Management (Rosprirodnadzor), and hydraulic structures - by Rostekhnadzor and Rostransnadzor.

According to the Water Code of the Russian Federation, basin districts are the main unit of the management structure in the field of use and protection of water bodies, however, today the existing structure of Rosvodresurs is organized according to the administrative-territorial principle and in many respects does not coincide with the boundaries of basin districts.

Public policy

The basic principles of state policy in the field of use and protection of water bodies are enshrined in the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2020 and include three key areas:

• guaranteed supply of water resources to the population and sectors of the economy;
• protection and restoration of water bodies;
• ensuring protection from the negative impact of water.

As part of the implementation of the state water policy in 2012, the federal target program “Development of the water management complex of the Russian Federation in 2012–2020” (FTP “Water of Russia”) was adopted. Also adopted were the federal target program "Clean Water" for 2011-2017, the federal target program "Development of melioration of agricultural land in Russia for 2014-2020", target programs in the Russian regions.

Until relatively recently, water, like air, was considered one of the free gifts of nature, only in areas of artificial irrigation it always had a high price. Recently, the attitude towards land water resources has changed.

Over the past century, the consumption of fresh water in the world has doubled, and the planet's water resources do not meet such a rapid increase in human needs. According to the World Commission on Water, today every person needs 40 (20 to 50) liters of water daily for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene.

However, about a billion people in 28 countries around the world do not have access to so many vital resources. More than 40% of the world's population (about 2.5 billion people) lives in areas experiencing moderate or severe water scarcity.

It is assumed that by 2025 this number will increase to 5.5 billion and will amount to two-thirds of the world's population.

The vast majority of fresh water is, as it were, conserved in the glaciers of Antarctica, Greenland, in the ice of the Arctic, in mountain glaciers and forms a kind of "emergency reserve" that is not yet available for use.

Different countries differ greatly in fresh water reserves. Below is a ranking of countries with the largest fresh water resources in the world. However, this ranking is based on absolute figures and does not match per capita figures.

10. Myanmar

Resources - 1080 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 23.3 thousand cubic meters m

The rivers of Myanmar - Burma are subject to the monsoon climate of the country. They originate in the mountains, but do not feed on glaciers, but on precipitation.

More than 80% of the annual river nutrition is rain. In winter, the rivers become shallow, some of them, especially in central Burma, dry up.

There are few lakes in Myanmar; the largest of them is the tectonic lake Indoji in the north of the country with an area of ​​210 sq. km.

Despite the relatively high absolute figures, the inhabitants of some areas of Myanmar suffer from a lack of fresh water.

9. Venezuela

Resources - 1320 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 60.3 thousand cubic meters. m

Nearly half of Venezuela's more than 1,000 rivers run off the Andes and the Guiana Plateau into the Orinoco, Latin America's third largest river. Its basin covers an area of ​​about 1 million square meters. km. The Orinoco drainage basin occupies approximately four-fifths of the territory of Venezuela.

8. India

Resources - 2085 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 2.2 thousand cubic meters m

India has a large amount of water resources: rivers, glaciers, seas and oceans. The most significant rivers are: Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, Narbada, Mahanadi, Kaveri. Many of them are important as sources of irrigation.

Eternal snows and glaciers in India occupy about 40 thousand square meters. km of territory.

However, given India's huge population, the per capita supply of fresh water is quite low.

7. Bangladesh

Resources - 2360 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 19.6 thousand cubic meters. m

Bangladesh is one of the countries in the world with the highest population density. This is largely due to the extraordinary fertility of the Ganges Delta and regular floods caused by monsoon rains. However, overcrowding and poverty have become a real disaster for Bangladesh.

There are many rivers flowing through Bangladesh, and the floods of large rivers can last for weeks. Bangladesh has 58 transboundary rivers, and issues arising from the use of water resources are very sensitive in discussions with India.

However, despite the relatively high level of water resources, the country faces a problem: the water resources of Bangladesh are often subject to arsenic poisoning due to its high content in the soil. Up to 77 million people are exposed to arsenic poisoning through drinking contaminated water.

6. USA

Resources - 2480 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 2.4 thousand cubic meters. m

The United States occupies a vast territory, on which there are many rivers and lakes.

However, despite the fact that the United States has such fresh water resources, this does not save California from the worst drought in history.

In addition, given the high population of the country, the supply of fresh water per capita is not so high.

5. Indonesia

Resources - 2530 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 12.2 thousand cubic meters. m

The special relief of the territories of Indonesia, combined with a favorable climate, at one time contributed to the formation of a dense river network in these lands.

In the territories of Indonesia, a fairly large amount of precipitation falls all year round, because of this, the rivers are always full-flowing and play a significant role in the irrigation system.

Almost all of them flow from the Maoke Mountains north into the Pacific Ocean.

4. China

Resources - 2800 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 2.3 thousand cubic meters. m

China has 5-6% of the world's water reserves. But China is the most populous country in the world, and its water distribution is highly uneven.

The south of the country has been fighting for thousands of years and today is fighting floods, building and building dams to save crops and people's lives.

The north of the country and the central regions are suffering from lack of water.

3. Canada

Resources - 2900 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 98.5 thousand cubic meters. m

Canada has 7% of the world's renewable fresh water resources and less than 1% of the world's total population. Accordingly, per capita income in Canada is one of the highest in the world.

Most of Canada's rivers belong to the basin of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and much fewer rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Canada is one of the richest countries in the world with lakes. On the border with the United States are the Great Lakes (Upper, Huron, Erie, Ontario), connected by small rivers into a huge basin with an area of ​​more than 240 thousand square meters. km.

Less significant lakes lie on the territory of the Canadian Shield (Great Bear, Great Slave, Athabasca, Winnipeg, Winnipegosis), etc.

2. Russia

Resources - 4500 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 30.5 thousand cubic meters. m

In terms of reserves, Russia accounts for more than 20% of the world's fresh water resources (excluding glaciers and groundwater). In calculating the volume of fresh water per inhabitant of Russia, there are about 30 thousand cubic meters. m of river flow per year.

Russia is washed by the waters of 12 seas belonging to three oceans, as well as the inland Caspian Sea. On the territory of Russia there are over 2.5 million large and small rivers, more than 2 million lakes, hundreds of thousands of swamps and other objects of the water fund.

1. Brazil

Resources - 6950 cubic meters. km

Per capita- 43.0 thousand cubic meters m

The water resources of Brazil are represented by a huge number of rivers, the main of which is the Amazon (the greatest river in the world).

Almost a third of this large country is occupied by the Amazon River basin, which includes the Amazon itself and more than two hundred of its tributaries.

This gigantic system contains a fifth of all the river waters of the world.

The rivers and their tributaries flow slowly, during the rainy seasons they often overflow their banks and flood vast areas of tropical forests.

The rivers of the Brazilian Plateau have significant hydropower potential. The largest lakes in the country are Mirim and Patos. Main rivers: Amazon, Madeira, Rio Negro, Parana, Sao Francisco.

Water reserves in the world. List of countries by water resources

A list of 173 countries of the world is presented, ordered by the volume of total renewable water resources according to [ . The data includes long-term average renewable water resources (in cubic kilometers of rainfall, renewable groundwater, and surface inflows from neighboring countries.

Brazil has the largest renewable water resources - 8,233.00 cubic kilometers. Russia has the largest reserves in Europe and the second in the world - 4,508.00. Further USA - 3 069.00, Canada - 2 902.00 and China - 2 840.00. Full table - see below.

Fresh water. Stocks[Source - 2].

Fresh water- the opposite of sea water, covers that part of the available water of the Earth, in which salts are contained in minimal quantities. Water whose salinity does not exceed 0.1%, even in the form of steam or ice, is called fresh water. Ice masses in the polar regions and glaciers contain the largest part of the earth's fresh water. In addition, fresh water exists in rivers, streams, underground waters, fresh lakes, and also in clouds. According to various estimates, the share of fresh water in the total amount of water on Earth is 2.5-3%.

About 85-90% of fresh water is contained in the form of ice. The distribution of fresh water across the globe is extremely uneven. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the world's population lives, only 39% of river waters are concentrated.

In terms of surface water resources, Russia occupies a leading position in the world. Only in the unique Lake Baikal are concentrated about 20% of the world's fresh lake water reserves and more than 80% of Russia's reserves. With a total volume of 23.6 thousand km³, about 60 km³ of rare natural water is reproduced in the lake annually.

According to the UN at the beginning of the 2000s, more than 1.2 billion people live in conditions of constant shortage of fresh water, about 2 billion suffer from it regularly. By the middle of the 21st century, the number of people living with a constant lack of water will exceed 4 billion people. In such a situation, some experts say that Russia's main advantage in the long term is water resources.

Fresh water reserves: atmospheric vapor - 14,000 or 0.06%, river fresh water - 200 or 0.005%, total Total 28,253,200 or 100%. Sources - Wikipedia:,.

List of countries by water resources[Source - 1]

№	The country	The total volume of the renewal. water resources (cu km)	date info mation
1	Brazil	8 233,00	2011
2	Russia	4 508,00	2011
3	United States	3 069,00	2011
4	Canada	2 902,00	2011
5	China	2 840,00	2011
6	Colombia	2 132,00	2011
7	European Union	2 057.76	2011
8	Indonesia	2 019,00	2011
9	Peru	1 913,00	2011
10	Congo, DR	1 283,00	2011
11	India	1 911,00	2011
12	Venezuela	1 233,00	2011
13	Bangladesh	1 227,00	2011
14	Burma	1 168,00	2011
15	Chile	922,00	2011
16	Vietnam	884,10	2011
17	Republic of the Congo	832,00	2011
18	Argentina	814,00	2011
19	Papua New Guinea	801,00	2011
20	Bolivia	622,50	2011
21	Malaysia	580,00	2011
22	Australia	492,00	2011
23	Philippines	479,00	2011
24	Cambodia	476,10	2011
25	Mexico	457,20	2011
26	Thailand	438,60	2011
27	Japan	430,00	2011
28	Ecuador	424,40	2011
29	Norway	382,00	2011
30	Madagascar	337,00	2011
31	Paraguay	336,00	2011
32	Laos	333,50	2011
33	New Zealand	327,00	2011
34	Nigeria	286,20	2011
35	Cameroon	285,50	2011
36	Pakistan	246,80	2011
37	Guyana	241,00	2011
38	Liberia	232,00	2011
39	Guinea	226,00	2011
40	Mozambique	217,10	2011
41	Romania	211,90	2011
42	Turkey	211,60	2011
43	France	211,00	2011
44	Nepal	210,20	2011
45	Nicaragua	196,60	2011
46	Italy	191,30	2011
47	Sweden	174,00	2011
48	Iceland	170,00	2011
49	Gabon	164,00	2011
50	Serbia	162,20	2011
51	Sierra Leone	160,00	2011
52	Germany	154,00	2011
53	Angola	148,00	2011
54	Panama	148,00	2011
55	United Kingdom	147,00	2011
56	Centre. African. Rep.	144,40	2011
57	Ukraine	139,60	2011
58	Uruguay	139,00	2011
59	Iran	137,00	2011
60	Ethiopia	122,00	2011
61	Suriname	122,00	2011
62	Costa Rica	112,40	2011
63	Spain	111,50	2011
64	Guatemala	111,30	2011
65	Finland	110,00	2011
66	Kazakhstan	107,50	2011
67	Croatia	105,50	2011
68	Zambia	105,20	2011
69	Hungary	104,00	2011
70	Mali	100,00	2011
71	Tanzania	96.27	2011
72	Honduras	95.93	2011
73	Netherlands	91,00	2011
74	Iraq	89.86	2011
75	Ivory Coast	81.14	2011
76	Butane	78,00	2011
77	Austria	77,70	2011
78	North Korea	77.15	2011
79	Greece	74.25	2011
80	South Korea	69,70	2011
81	Portugal	68,70	2011
82	Taiwan	67,00	2011
83	Uganda	66,00	2011
84	Afghanistan	65.33	2011
85	Sudan	64,50	2011
86	Georgia	63.33	2011
87	Poland	61,60	2011
88	Belarus	58,00	2011
89	Egypt	57,30	2011
90	Switzerland	53,50	2011
91	Ghana	53,20	2011
92	Sri Lanka	52,80	2011
93	Ireland	52,00	2011
94	South Africa	51,40	2011
95	Slovakia	50,10	2011
96	Uzbekistan	48.87	2011
97	Solomon islands	44,70	2011
98	Chad	43,00	2011
99	Albania	41,70	2011
100	Senegal	38,80	2011
101	Cuba	38.12	2011
102	Bosnia and Herzegovina	37,50	2011
103	Latvia	35.45	2011
104	Mongolia	34,80	2011
105	Azerbaijan	34.68	2011
106	Niger	33.65	2011
107	Slovenia	31.87	2011
108	Guinea-Bissau	31,00	2011
109	Kenya	30,70	2011
110	Morocco	29,00	2011
111	Fiji	28.55	2011
112	Benin	26.39	2011
113	Equatorial Guinea	26,00	2011
114	Salvador	25.23	2011
115	Lithuania	24,90	2011
116	Turkmenistan	24.77	2011
117	Kyrgyzstan	23.62	2011
118	Tajikistan	21.91	2011
119	Bulgaria	21,30	2011
120	Dominican Republic	21,00	2011
121	Zimbabwe	20,00	2011
122	Belize	18.55	2011
123	Belgium	18,30	2011
124	Namibia	17.72	2011
125	Malawi	17.28	2011
126	Syria	16,80	2011
127	Somalia	14,70	2011
128	Go	14,70	2011
129	Haiti	14,03	2011
130	Czech Republic	13,15	2011
131	Estonia	12,81	2011
132	Burundi	12,54	2011
133	Burkina Faso	12,50	2011
134	Botswana	12,24	2011
135	Algeria	11,67	2011
136	Moldova	11,65	2011
137	Mauritania	11,40	2011
138	Rwanda	9,50	2011
139	Jamaica	9,40	2011
140	Brunei	8,50	2011
141	Gambia	8,00	2011
142	Armenia	7,77	2011
143	Macedonia	6,40	2011
144	Eritrea	6,30	2011
145	Denmark	6,00	2011
146	Tunisia	4,60	2011
147	Swaziland	4,51	2011
148	Lebanon	4,50	2011
149	Trinidad and Tobago	3,84	2011
150	Luxembourg	3,10	2011
151	Lesotho	3,02	2011
152	Mauritius	2,75	2011
153	Saudi Arabia	2,40	2011
154	Yemen	2,10	2011
155	Israel	1,78	2011
156	Oman	1,40	2011
157	Comoros	1,20	2011
158	Jordan	0.94	2011
159	Cyprus	0.78	2011
160	Libya	0,70	2011
161	Singapore	0,60	2011
162	Cape Verde	0,30	2011
163	Djibouti	0,30	2011
164	UAE	0,15	2011
165	Bahrain	0.12	2011
166	Barbados	0.08	2011
167	Qatar	0.06	2011
168	Antigua and Barbuda	0,05	2011
169	Malta	0,05	2011
170	Maldives	0.03	2011
171	Bahamas	0.02	2011
172	Kuwait	0.02	2011
173	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.02	2011