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Water resources management of the southern rivers of Russia with reference to fisheries requirements
Author(s) -
Dubinina V. G.,
Kozlitina S. V.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2400.2000.00190.x
Subject(s) - environmental science , structural basin , water resources , fishery , salinity , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , streamflow , water resource management , oceanography , geography , ecology , geology , paleontology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology
Water consumption from Russia's southern rivers has increased substantially in recent years as a consequence of intensified economic activity. The volume of irreversible river‐flow withdrawal from the Azov Sea basin varies between 11 and 13 km 3 year −1. The majority of the abstracted water is used for irrigation. By 1990, the decrease in discharge into the Caspian Sea was 41 km 3 year −1. Withdrawals of water from the Kura, Terek, Ural and other rivers have so far exceeded the ecologically admissible limits and become critical. The paper discusses methodological approaches for the elaboration of standards for water withdrawal and ecologically safe discharges into the southern seas. New data are presented on the dynamics of fish abundance as a function of the hydrological characteristics of rivers and water salinity. The results of the system analysis and regressive modelling formed the basis of a programme to develop policies for water management for fisheries in the lower Don. The principles and criteria for water withdrawal under variable hydrological regimes for the rivers entering the Azov and the Caspian Seas should be tested for their applicability for other water bodies (e.g. rivers, water reservoirs and lakes).