Russia's water resources, like animals, plants, and minerals, are incredibly rich. They are a component of the biosphere and are used by humans in economic (usually recreational) activities.

Types of water resources

There are two large groups of water resources: natural and man-made. The first include:

• oceans (3);
• seas (12);
• rivers (2.5 million);
• lakes (2 million);
• swamps;
• The groundwater;
• glaciers;
• soil moisture.

The second category includes reservoirs specially created for storing large reserves of water.

Rice. 1 Types of water resources

Oceans, seas and rivers

In short, rivers are the basis of Russia’s water potential. Their volume is about 4270 km3. One of the main characteristics of this type of water resources is their unbalanced distribution throughout the country. This is very clearly visible on the physical map: in the south and west of the country there are fewer rivers, in the north and in the mountains there is a denser river network. Also characteristic of this type of water resource is the unevenness of its use in different regions of the state. Since the population density in the European part is higher than in Siberia and the Far East, the use of river resources here is greater. This leads to small rivers disappearing or becoming swamped (drying up), and large rivers gradually becoming polluted.

Oceans, seas and rivers make up the 4 main water basins of our country:

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• Arctic Ocean basin with seas and rivers (Northern Dvina, Pechora, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma);
• Pacific Ocean basin with seas and rivers (Amur, Anadyr);
• Atlantic Ocean basin with seas and rivers (Don, Kuban, Neva);
• Caspian Sea basin with rivers (Volga and Ural).

The use of oceans, seas and rivers is quite clear:

• shipping (example in Russia: Northern Sea Route);
• Oil and gas;
• fishing;
• recreation.

Lakes

More than half of the total useful volume of Russia's water resources (fresh water) is contained in lakes. There are more than 2 million of them in the country. The largest are considered:

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

Baikal especially stands out in this series. It is this lake that contains more than 90% of all fresh water in the country. It is the deepest lake on the planet, and because of its unique ecosystem it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rice. 2 Lake Baikal

Lakes, like rivers, provide transport links between populated areas and perform functions such as

• irrigation;
• water supply;
• fisheries;
• medicinal (some lakes contain large amounts of beneficial salts and mineral mud).

Lakes, as well as rivers, are unevenly distributed throughout Russia. The largest number of them is located in the North-West of the country: the Kola Peninsula, Karelia. Ural, Siberia, Transbaikalia.

Swamps

Wetlands play an important role in assessing Russia's water resources. They occupy an area of ​​approximately 1.4 ml km2 (most of all in the north-west of the country, in the north of the Central region, in Siberia). The main features of this water resource:

• river feeding;
• cleansing rivers naturally from various pollutants;
• ensuring flood and flood control.

Bogs are also the main source of peat reserves.

In some regions, people purposefully drain swamps, thereby not only harming the river water system, but also destroying entire important ecosystems.

Groundwater, glaciers and soil moisture

Russia has large reserves of groundwater (potential resource - 230 km3 per year with operational reserves of 22 km3 per year). Groundwater is needed for:

• “feeding” or water supply to rivers;
• soil formation;
• providing the population with clean drinking water (it has been proven that groundwater is the cleanest and suitable for consumption even without additional treatment).

The temperature of underground water and the degree of mineralization depend on the depth of occurrence. There are more than 300 mineral springs and more than 30 thermal springs in Russia.

Glaciers are also unique reservoirs of fresh water in Russia. Glaciers include:

• arctic ice (55.5 thousand km2);
• permafrost (rocks containing ice; about 11 ml km2).

Rice. 3 Arctic ice

Soil moisture is also an important (renewable) water resource. Its total volume is 3500 km3 per year.

Reservoirs

Reservoirs are not just additional “reservoirs” of water resources, but also play important functions:

• flood control;
• flood control;
• creating the necessary conditions for recreation and irrigation (necessary to ensure the population and agriculture);
• ensuring the operation of hydroelectric power plants (producing more than 1600 billion kWh of electricity).

The largest number of reservoirs and, as a result, hydroelectric power stations are located in the Eastern regions of the country.

Reservoirs and their operation can lead to unfavorable ecological conditions in the region. Deformation of river banks can be observed, landslides occur, and emergency situations are possible due to the poor general condition of waterworks. That is why the work of reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations is closely monitored by special services.

Water resources are not unlimited, although they are renewable. In general, the Russian Federation uses 87.3 km3 of water per year (with total strategic reserves of 97 thousand km3 per year), including 71.0 km3 from surface sources, 11.9 km3 from underground sources and 4.3 km3 of sea water . Every resident of the country uses about 1 m3 of water per year (at the rate of 2.5 -3 liters per day). Also, for each resident of the Russian Federation per year there is an average of 30 thousand m3 of total river flow, 530 m3 of total water intake and 90-95 m3 of domestic water supply (i.e. 250 liters per day).

The protection of water resources is the responsibility of the state, but environmental education of the population also plays an important role in their preservation. Scientists have proven that in Russia, unlike other countries in the world, fresh water is used extremely uneconomically.

What have we learned?

Russia's water supply is one hundred percent. Our country has all types of water resources. They perform both a water-saving function and have specific functionality. Different types of water resources are concentrated in different regions of our country.

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The most important component of Russia’s water resources is rivers. The center of the state territory of Russia was determined by the headwaters of the rivers, the area of ​​the territory. – their mouths, settlement – ​​the direction of river basins. Rivers have influenced our history in many ways. On the river, the Russian man came to life. During the migration, the river showed him the way. For a significant part of the year she fed. For a merchant it is a summer and winter road.

The Dnieper and Volkhov, Klyazma, Oka, Volga, Neva, and many other rivers have gone down in Russian history as places of the most important events in the life of the country. It is no coincidence that rivers occupy a prominent place in Russian epic.

On the geographical map of Russia, the extensive river network attracts attention.
In Russia there are 120 thousand rivers over 10 km long, including more than 3 thousand medium (200-500 km) and large (more than 500 km). The annual river flow is 4270 km3 (including in the Yenisei basin - 630, Lena - 532, Ob - 404, Amur - 344, Volga River - 254). The generic river flow is taken as the initial value when assessing the water supply of the country.

Reservoirs have been created on many rivers, some of which are larger in area than large lakes.

Russia's huge hydropower resources (320 million kW) are also unevenly distributed. More than 80% of the hydropower potential is located in the Asian part of the country.

In addition to the function of storing water for the operation of hydroelectric power stations, reservoirs are used for watering land, water supply to the population and industrial enterprises, shipping, timber rafting, flood control, and recreation. Large reservoirs change natural conditions: they regulate river flow, influence climate, fish spawning conditions, etc.

Russian lakes, of which there are more than 2 million, contain over half of the country's total fresh water. At the same time, Baikal contains about 95% of Russia’s lake water. There are relatively few large lakes in the country, only 9 of them (excluding the Caspian) have an area of ​​more than 1 thousand km2 - Baikal, Ladoga, Onega, Taimyr, Khanka, Chudsko-Pskovskoye, Chany, Ilmen, Beloe. Navigation is established on large lakes, their water is used for water supply and irrigation. Some of the lakes are rich in fish, have reserves of salts and healing mud, and are used for recreation.

Swamps are common on plains in areas of excess moisture and permafrost. In the tundra zone, for example, the swampiness of the territory reaches 50%. Severe swampiness is characteristic of the taiga. The swamps of the forest zone are rich in peat. The best quality peat – low-ash and high-calorie – is produced by raised bogs located on watersheds. Swamps are the source of food for many rivers and lakes. The most swampy region in the world is Western Siberia. Here, swamps occupy almost 3 million km2, and more than 1/4 of the world's peat reserves are concentrated in them.

Groundwater is of great economic importance. It is an important source of nutrition for rivers, lakes and swamps. The groundwater of the first aquifer from the surface is called groundwater. The soil formation processes and the associated development of vegetation cover depend on the depth, abundance and quality of groundwater. When moving from north to south, the depth of groundwater increases, its temperature rises, and mineralization increases.

The groundwater- a source of clean water. They are much better protected from pollution than surface waters. An increase in the content of a number of chemical elements and compounds in groundwater leads to the formation of mineral waters. About 300 springs are known in Russia, 3/4 of which are located in the European part of the country (Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, North Ossetia, Pskov region, Udmurtia, etc.).

Almost 1/4 of Russia's fresh water reserves located in glaciers occupying about 60 thousand km2. These are mainly cover glaciers of the Arctic islands (55.5 thousand km2, water reserves 16.3 thousand km3).

Large areas in our country are occupied by permafrost - rock strata containing ice that does not thaw for a long time - about 11 million km2. These are the territories east of the Yenisei, the north of the East European Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. The maximum thickness of permafrost is in the north of Central Siberia and in the lowlands of the Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma river basins. Permafrost has a significant impact on economic life. The shallow occurrence of the frozen layer impairs the formation of the root system of plants and reduces the productivity of meadows and forests. The laying of roads and the construction of buildings change the thermal regime of permafrost and can lead to subsidence, sloughing, swelling of soil, distortions of buildings, etc.

The territory of Russia is washed by the waters of 12 seas: 3 seas of the Atlantic Ocean, 6 seas of the Arctic Ocean, 3 seas of the Pacific Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean approaches the territory of Russia with its inland seas - the Baltic, Black and Azov. They are highly desalinated and quite warm. These are important transport routes from Russia to Western Europe and other parts of the world. A significant part of the coast of these seas is a recreational zone. Fishing value is low.

The seas of the Arctic Ocean seem to “overlap” the Arctic coast of Russia over a vast area - 10 thousand km. They are shallow and covered with ice most of the year (except for the southwestern part of the Barents Sea). The main transport routes pass through the White and Barents Seas. The Northern Sea Route is important.

Oil and gas deposits on the shelf are promising. The Barents Sea is of greatest commercial importance.

Pacific Seas- the largest and deepest of those washing Russia. The southernmost of them, Japan, is the richest in biological resources and is widely used for international shipping.

The Russian Federation is a country rich in water resources. A large percentage of the world's water reserves are located in Russia. The state's marine area consists of 14 seas. Thanks to the seas, the country has developed shipping, oil and gas production, fishing and many other industries.

There are more than 2 million fresh and salt lakes in the Russian Federation. The deepest lake is located here. Baikal contains 90% of the national fresh water reserve. Swamps also play an important role; peat is extracted from them.

Seas of Russia

Russia's 14 seas belong to three oceans and the Caspian Sea. Each of them has important national industrial significance. The White, Chukotka, Azov, Black, Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese, Baltic, Caspian, Kara, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea stand out for their importance in the transport, resort and industrial sectors.

The country's northern seas serve as the main source of seafood. The Black and Azov Seas are visited by thousands of tourists every year. All seas differ from each other in natural conditions. Each is unique in its own relief, bottom shape, depth, temperature and origin...

Largest lake (sea):

Seas of the Atlantic Ocean:

Seas of the Arctic Ocean:

Pacific Seas:

Rivers of Russia

The country occupies a large geographical part of the globe, where a large number of rivers spread. Many large cities are located on the river banks. More than 3 million rivers are important for the life of people, animals, birds and plants. The size of many rivers impresses with their power and beauty. The Lena and Ob rivers are considered one of the longest rivers on Earth. Rivers have many vegetation zones and are home to many species of flora and fauna. The reservoirs are also rich in fish species that can be eaten...

Large rivers of Russia:

Lakes of Russia

There are more than 2 million unique, beautiful and valuable lakes in Russia. The largest lake in the world is Baikal. It is home to many rare species of animals and plants. The water of Lake Baskunchak has medicinal properties, its healing effect brings benefits to people's health. Lotus Lake amazes with its picturesque nature.

Each lake, regardless of its size and location, is very important for the country. Amazing reservoirs serve as a place for tourists to relax, attract the attention of fishermen and are a national treasure of the state. The economic importance of lakes increases every year. Salt lakes became a source for the production of table salt. Many ships sail on Lake Onega and Lake Baikal...

Large lakes of Russia:

Reservoirs of Russia

A large number of reservoirs in the country, including artificial reservoirs, are divided into river and lake types. These reservoirs are used to generate hydropower and thermal power. At the same time, reservoirs are responsible for water supply to the population and have important water transport significance. Fish are bred and caught in many reservoirs. They also produce inexpensive electricity. Dry areas find their salvation in water from such systems.

The Far East suffers from floods, so artificially built reservoirs limit water flows and save people from disasters.

The Asian part of the Russian Federation has more than a hundred reservoirs, and the European part has more than a thousand. The total area of ​​the country's reservoirs is approximately 1 million square meters...

Large reservoirs in Russia:

Unique water resources are important for every person. The purity of water resources depends on every resident of the country. The problem of water use in Russia is the most important factor. The economy, social sphere and national security depend on this. Therefore, water resources should be conserved and protected from pollution.

Russia, one of the most water-rich countries, has more than 20% of the world's fresh surface and groundwater reserves. The country's average long-term river flow resources are 4,270 km3/year (10% of the world's river flow), or 30 thousand m3/year (78 m3/day) per inhabitant (second place in the world after Brazil). The predicted operational reserves of groundwater are over 360 m3 per year. Having such significant water resources and using no more than 3% of river flow, Russia in a number of regions experiences an acute water shortage due to their uneven distribution across the territory (8% of resources are in the European part of Russia, where 80% of industry and population are concentrated), and also poor water quality.

In quantitative terms, Russia's water resources are composed of static (secular) and renewable reserves. The former are considered unchanged and constant over a long period of time; renewable water resources are estimated by the volume of annual river flow.
The territory of Russia is washed by the waters of 13 seas. The total area of ​​marine waters falling under the jurisdiction of Russia is about 7 million km2. At the same time, 60% of the total river flow enters the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean.

River flow resources. Among surface waters in the socio-economic development of the country, priority belongs to river flow. The volume of local water resources of river flow in Russia averages 4043 km3/year (second largest in the world after Brazil), which is 237 thousand m3/year per 1 km2 of territory and 27–28 thousand m3/year per inhabitant. The flow from adjacent territories is 227 km3/year.
Water reserves in lakes. Lake water is classified as static reserves due to slow water exchange. Depending on the nature of interaction with rivers, there are flowing and drainage lakes. The former have a predominant distribution in the humid zone, the latter - in the arid zone, where evaporation from the water surface greatly exceeds the amount of precipitation.

There are more than 2.7 million fresh and salt lakes in Russia. The bulk of fresh water resources are concentrated in large lakes: Baikal, Ladoga, Onega, Chudskoye, Pskov, etc. In total, the 12 largest lakes contain over 24.3 thousand km3 of fresh water. More than 90% of the lakes are shallow water bodies, the static water reserves of which are estimated at 2.2–2.4 thousand km3, and thus the total water reserves in Russian lakes reach (excluding the Caspian Sea) 26.5–26. 7 thousand km3. The Caspian Sea is the largest closed brackish body of water by area, which has international status.

Swamps and wetlands occupy at least 8% of the territory of Russia. Swamp areas are mainly located in the north-west and north of the European part of the country, as well as in the northern regions of Western Siberia. Their areas range from several hectares to tens of square kilometers. Swamps occupy about 1.4 million km2 and accumulate huge amounts of water. About 3,000 km3 of static natural water reserves are concentrated in swamps. The feeding of swamps involves runoff from the drainage area and precipitation falling directly onto the wetland. The total average annual volume of the incoming component is estimated at 1500 km3; about 1000 km3/year is spent on runoff feeding rivers, lakes, underground horizons (natural resources), and 500 km3/year on evaporation from the water surface and transpiration of plants.
The bulk of glaciers and snowfields are concentrated on the Arctic islands and mountainous regions. The largest mountain glaciers in area are located in the Caucasus, Kamchatka, Altai, and in the northern and northeastern parts of Siberia. Arctic glaciers cover an area of ​​approximately 55 thousand km2.

The hydrological role of glaciers is to redistribute the runoff of atmospheric precipitation within the year and smooth out fluctuations in the annual water content of rivers. For water management practice in Russia, glaciers and snowfields in mountainous regions, which determine the water content of mountain rivers, are of particular interest.

Russia has significant hydropower resources. However, their use, especially in lowland areas, is often associated with negative environmental consequences: flooding, loss of valuable agricultural land, coastal erosion, damage to fisheries, etc.

Which can be used in economic activities.

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 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).

Dynamic reserves of water resources in Russia amount to 4,258.6 km 3 per year (more than 10% of the world figure), which makes Russia the second country in the world in terms of gross volume of water resources after Brazil. At the same time, in terms of water resource availability, 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 are experiencing water shortages, which is mainly due to the uneven distribution of water resources throughout 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 rivers belong to the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans; 10% - to the Atlantic Ocean basin (Baltic and Azov-Black Sea basins) and closed inland 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 bulk of the economic infrastructure, industrial production capacities and productive agricultural land are 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 drainage areas. Up to 44% of the Russian population 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 flow is distributed unevenly across Russian regions - the average annual figure 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 values ​​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 peculiarity of the structure of the Russian river network 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 is used to compare. The main indicators of rivers are basin area, length, average long-term flow. It is also possible to compare using indicators such as the density of the river network of the basin and others.

The largest water systems in Russia by 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 Ob, Yenisei, Amur and, slightly, Volga basins).

About 96% of all lake water reserves are concentrated in the eight largest lakes of Russia (excluding the Caspian Sea), of which 95.2% is 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 surface area and basin area, average and maximum depths, water volume, salinity, altitude, etc.The undisputed leader in most indicators (area, volume, basin area) is the Caspian Sea.

The largest mirror area is in the Caspian Sea (390,000 km2), Baikal (31,500 km2), Lake Ladoga (18,300 km2), Lake Onega (9,720 km2) and Lake Taimyr (4,560 km2).

The largest lakes by drainage area are the Caspian (3,100,000 km2), Baikal (571,000 km2), Ladoga (282,700 km2), Uvs-Nur on the border of Mongolia and Russia (71,100 km2) and Vuoksa (68,500 km 2).

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

The deepest lakes are the Caspian (78,200 km 3), Baikal (23,615 km 3), Ladoga (838 km 3), Onega (295 km 3) and Khantayskoye (82 km 3).

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

Lakes Baikal, Lake Teletskoye and Uvs-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

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

The main purposes of using reservoirs:

• water supply;
• Agriculture;
• energy;
• water transport;
• fisheries;
• timber rafting;
• irrigation;
• recreation (rest);
• flood protection;
• watering;
• 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%, and the Volga by 40% (reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade).

A significant share of regulated flow falls on the rivers of the Asian part of Russia, primarily in Eastern Siberia - the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk region (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, comparison is usually made based on the indicators achieved by the reservoir at (NFL).

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 full and. You can also compare reservoirs according to such parameters as the value of the FSL, the height of the dam, the surface area, the length of the coastline and others.

The largest reservoirs by full volume are located in the eastern regions of Russia: Bratskoye (169,300 million m3), Zeyaskoye (68,420 million m3), Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk (63,000 million m3 each) and Ust-Ilimskoye (58,930 million m3). 3).

The largest reservoirs in Russia in terms of useful volume are Bratskoye (48,200 million m3), Kuibyshevskoye (34,600 million m3), Zeyaskoye (32,120 million m3), Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk (31,500 million m3 each) - also almost all located in the east; The European part of Russia is represented by only one reservoir, the Kuibyshevsky reservoir, located in five regions of the Volga region.

The largest reservoirs by surface area: Irkutsk on the river. Angara (32,966 km 2), Kuibyshevskoye on the river. Volga (6,488 km 2), Bratskoe on the river. Angare (5,470 km 2), Rybinskoye (4,550 km 2) and Volgogradskoye (3,309 km 2) on the river. Volga.

Swamps

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

The total area of ​​marshes in Russia is more than 1.5 million km 2, 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; further south the process of marsh formation weakens 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 swamped areas 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 areas of swamps range from several hectares to thousands of square kilometers. The swamps contain about 3,000 km 3 of static water reserves, and their total average annual flow is estimated at 1,000 km 3 /year.

An important element of swamps is peat - a unique combustible mineral of plant origin, which has... Russia's total peat reserves are about 235 billion tons, or 47% of world 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-Yugan swamp system (15,000 km 2), Upper Volga wetland complex (2,500 km 2), Selgon-Kharpinsky swamps (1,580 km 2) and Usinsk swamp (1,391 km 2).

The 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 preserved in the Arctic ice, but their volumes are constantly decreasing and, according to recent estimates, this strategic fresh water reserve may disappear by 2030.

Most of Russia's glaciers are represented by the ice sheets of the islands and archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean - about 99% of Russia's glacial water resources are concentrated in them. Mountain glaciers account for slightly more than 1% of the glacial water supply.

The share of glacial feeding in the total flow 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-Khayata 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-Khayata ridge (12 km 3).

The groundwater

Groundwater accounts for a significant portion of fresh water reserves in Russia. In conditions of increasing deterioration in the quality of surface waters, fresh groundwater is often the only source of providing the population with high-quality drinking water, protected from pollution.

Natural groundwater reserves 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 provision of predicted groundwater resources in Russia is 6 m 3 /day per person.

HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES

Hydraulic structures (HTS) are structures for the use of water resources, as well as for combating the negative effects of water. Dams, canals, dikes, shipping locks, tunnels, etc. GTS make up a significant part of the water management complex of the Russian Federation.

In Russia there are about 65 thousand hydraulic structures of water management, fuel and energy complexes and transport infrastructure.

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

The reclamation and water management complex of federal property includes more than 60 thousand various hydraulic structures, including over 230 reservoirs, more than 2 thousand regulating waterworks, about 50 thousand km of water supply and discharge canals, over 3 thousand km of protective shafts and dams .

Transport hydrosystems include more than 300 navigable hydraulic structures located on inland waterways and are federally owned.

Hydraulic 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, and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Some of the hydraulic structures are privately owned, over 6 thousand are ownerless.

Channels

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

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

The bulk of economic (reclamation) canals with a total length of over 50 thousand km are concentrated in the Southern and North Caucasus Federal Districts, and to a lesser extent in the Central, Volga and southern Siberian Federal Districts. The total area of ​​reclaimed lands in Russia is 89 thousand km 2. Irrigation is of great importance for Russian agriculture, since arable land is located mainly in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, where agricultural yields fluctuate sharply from year to year depending on weather conditions and only 35% of arable land is in favorable conditions for moisture supply.

The largest channels in Russia

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

The longest economic canals in Russia that abstract 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 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:

Part of the Russian legal system in the field of use and protection of water bodies are international treaties of Russia and ratified international conventions, such as the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) and the UN 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.

Russia's water resources are managed at the federal level by the Federal Agency for Water Resources (Rosvodresursy), which is part of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources.

The powers of Rosvodresurs to provide public services and manage federal property in the regions are exercised by the agency's territorial divisions - basin water departments (BWU), as well as 51 subordinate institutions. Currently, there are 14 commercial banks operating in Russia, the structure of which includes departments in all regions of the Russian Federation. The exception is the regions of the Crimean Federal District - in accordance with the agreements signed in July - August 2014, part of the powers of Rosvodresursov was transferred to the relevant structures of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea and the Government of Sevastopol.

Management of regionally owned water resources is carried out by the relevant structures of regional administrations.

Management of federal facilities of the reclamation complex is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation (Department of Reclamation), water bodies of transport infrastructure - 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 Rosvodresursy; 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 of Transport (Rostransnadzor).

Supervision of compliance with legislation regarding the use and protection of water bodies is carried out by the Federal Service for Natural Resources Management (Rosprirodnadzor), and of hydraulic structures - by Rostechnadzor and Rostransnadzor.

According to the Water Code of the Russian Federation, the main unit of the management structure in the field of use and protection of water bodies is basin districts, however, today the existing structure of Rosvodresurs is organized on an administrative-territorial principle and in many ways 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 provision of water resources to the population and economic sectors;
• protection and restoration of water bodies;
• ensuring protection from the negative effects of water.

As part of the implementation of the state water policy, the federal target program “Development of the water management complex of the Russian Federation in 2012–2020” (Federal Target Program “Water of Russia”) was adopted in 2012. The federal target program “Clean Water” for 2011–2017, the federal target program “Development of reclamation of agricultural lands in Russia for 2014–2020”, and target programs in Russian regions were also adopted.