Integrated Assessment of Water Use in the Russian Part of the Lake Baikal Basin Based on Geo/information Technology

Abstract

The advantages of the basin approach in the study of regional water use are justified in the article, water management areas according to the water management division of the Russian Federation were used as territorial units of the study. A universal methodic for the integrated assessment of the region’s water management activities was developed, based on geo/information technology. Stages of the study are described, including water management of the area, ranking based on the total anthropogenic load on water bodies and river basins, zoning of the territory to optimize the target use of water resources. The GIS of water use of the Lake Baikal basin is developed on the basis of governmental statistics, mass media examples of organization of water management data, as well as the results of automated mapping of water bodies. The results of water management regionalization are presented and spatial regularities of water use organization in the investigated territory are revealed. The ranking of river basins and water bodies according to the degree of anthropogenic load has been carried out, ecological problems of the region have been identified and their spatial localization has been fixed, the exact locations of pollution sources and their influence on water management have been established. Zoning of the territory under study for targeted use of water resources was proposed, five unique zones were identified, differentiated according to the special conditions for the formation of water resources and the specific use of water bodies, as well as the nature and intensity of the current and forecasted water use. A set of measures to optimize water use within the zones of targeted use of water resources is proposed.