Journal of Conference Abstracts

Conjugated Analysis of Quantity and Quality of Water Resources in the Oka Basin

Natalia A. Sorokovikova (sotnikov@issp.serpukhov.su) & Vladimir N. Bashkin (bashkin@issp.serpukhov.su)

Institute of Soil Science and Photosynthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences,
142292 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia.

The restoration and maintenance of high quality water resources are impossible without taking into consideration the scale and results of human activities. The 2.5 million ha Oka Basin encompasses 12 provinces (oblasts) in the central part of Russia: Moskovskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kaluzhskaya, Mordoviya, Nizhegorodskaya, Orlovskaya, Penzenskaya, Ryazanskaya, Smolenskaya, Tambovskaya, Tul'skaya, and Vladimirskaya. The average annual quantity of river resources is approximately 170 km³, including 2.7 million tons of pollutants, exerting a significant ecumenical impact on water quality. Pollution levels in river waters were assessed by means of total biological oxygen requirement, concentrations of total P, total N, NO₃^-, oil products, synthetic matter, and others. The degree of dilution of wastewaters by river waters in the Oka Basin also was determined.

Annual wastewater discharge exceeded the quantity of annual river water resources in the Moscow and Tula provinces, a result of the importation of groundwater and river water resources from the Upper Volga Basin for muncipal, industrial, and other needs, with wastewater discharges into rivers of the Oka Basin. Within the Oka Basin, the major pollutant was mineral salts (SO₄^2- and chlorides). Other pollutants included high concentrations of NH₄⁺, NO₃^-, oil products, and phenols; their primary sources were industrial, municipal, and agricultural enteprises of the Moscow province. For example, oil products, synthetic matter and NO₃^-, in the wastewater discharges from the Moscow province was five times, three times, and two times greater than discharges from all other territories in the Oka Basin combined.

A map of river water pollution and available river water supply was compiled. A comparison of water resource quantities with amounts of pollutants discharged as wastewaters in separate parts of the Oka Basin was the basis for assessing available water supplies for the study area. The greatest available water supplies were in Nizhniy Novgorod, Vladimir, and Ryazan' provinces. However, their water resources were polluted to the highest degree. Pollutants in these provinces were contributed both from local sources and from the transfer of sewage water from the Tula and Moscow provinces. The low quality of potable water in Vladimir and other towns in the Klyaz'ma Basin threatens human health. Much larger available water resources were concentrated in the southwestern part of the Oka Basin (in the Kaluga and Smolensk provinces); the cleanest water in this region was in the Ugra Basin.

Recommendations for water resource management, restoration and maintenance of high water quality in the Oka Basin have been proposed.