ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT AND POSSIBLE PROSPECTIVE WATER CONSUMPTION FROM SURFACE RUNOFF SOURCES OF THE TAMBOV REGION

Climate change makes significant adjustments to the scenarios of socio-economic development of territories, including their hydrological aspects. The world population growth and the industrial development, the acute problem of water scarcity and the interseasonal redistribution of runoff – all this also puts direct pressure on water resources. Assessment of water consumption prospects appears to be a highly relevant issue. Within the framework of this study, possible prospective water consumption was assessed for the territory of all administrative districts of the Tambov region. The calculations were made on the basis of the annual flow volume of 75% and 95% of the water supply sufficiency and correlated with the annual water consumption in the region. The work is based on the data on the use of surface water resources in the Tambov region for the period from 2003 to 2020, as well as materials on the region’s major water users, provided by specialized organizations. The results obtained made it possible to assess the possible prospective water consumption and make a conclusion about a high water management potential of the majority of administrative districts of the Tambov region. Bondarsky, Gavrilovsky, Inzhavinsky, Kirsanovsky, Mordovsky, Muchkapsky, Rasskazovsky, Rzhaksinsky, Tokarevsky, Umetsky districts appear to be particularly promising from this perspective, while the prospects for the development of water consumption from surface sources in the Sampursky district can be assessed as poor.