Russian scientists warn that the unreasonable consumption of water resources and the absence of a wastewater treatment system can lead to a catastrophic shortage of water in some regions of Russia in 10-15 years.
First of all, Crimea, Kalmykia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Astrakhan, Rostov, Volgograd, Kurgan and Orenburg regions will suffer from the lack of fresh water
According to the draft State Report “On the State and Protection of the Environment 2020”, Russia has 4565 cubic kilometers of renewable water reserves at its disposal. However, scientists from the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences are convinced that by unwisely consuming water and not doing full-fledged wastewater treatment, one can wait for a catastrophe in some regions in 15 years. This was reported by the "Parlamentskaya Gazeta".
The scientific director of the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Danilov-Danilyan notes that fresh water is distributed unevenly in Russia - so in the European part of Russia there is only 20% of water resources, and beyond the Urals - the remaining 80%. Moreover, most of the population and economy are located just in the European part of the country.
In addition, the water content of the rivers is changing. The Don has been shallowing since the 1990s, and in 2020 its runoff was 57.6% below the norm, follows from the draft state report of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
According to Danilov-Danilyan, the European part of Russia will inevitably face a catastrophic water shortage by 2035, if innovations are not introduced and the rivers are not protected from pollution. In the risk zone, first of all, Crimea, Kalmykia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Astrakhan, Rostov, Volgograd, Kurgan and Orenburg Regions - where there is still a shortage of water.
The situation could be aggravated by global warming, the scientist believes: as the temperature rises, more and more water will evaporate from the ocean surface, but it will stay longer in the warm atmosphere. And the rains will become more abundant, but rare, leading now to droughts, then to floods, which can already be seen in the Crimea.
But the human factor still inflicts greater damage - some water sources disappear due to uncontrolled use, production waste is dumped into others. According to experts, simple but costly actions can save the situation - cities and villages need to be equipped with storm drains and treatment facilities, landfills and landfills with filtrate traps, and agricultural land needs to be processed in a certain way so that as little harmful substances as possible get to the water.