ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGING THE CURRENT RESERVOIRS REGIME IN THE URAL RIVER

Relevance. Th e paper deals with current engineering water/economic pattern of the Ural River on the territory of the Russian Federation. We have assessed contemporary use of water resources in the Russian part of the basin and have given the features of the currently active regulations for the use of water resources of the Verkhne-Ural, Magnitogorsk and Iriklinsk reservoirs. Methods. We have analyzed the possibility of the increase of runoff volume supplied to the Republic of Kazakhstan due to changing of the volume and regime of discharge from the reservoirs. Results. We have formulated the conclusion about impossibility of changing the current regime of the runoff cascade regulation by the Verkhne-Ural and Magnitogorsk reservoir because of probable considerable social/economic and water/economic problems. Th e versions of changing the rules of the use of the Iriklinsk Reservoir water resources with taking into account the proposals of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been discussed and the reliability of water supply for water users on the territory of the Russian Federation in case of these changes have been assessed.