Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2022 number 5S

The problems of Lake Baikal level regulation, hydrological conditions and characteristics of changes in the level regime of the lake in recent years, including the low-water (2014-2017) and high-water (2020-2021) periods, and also the changes in the legislative framework caused by them are considered. A historical overview of the development of the water resource management rules of the Irkutsk reservoir (Lake Baikal) for the period from the end of the construction of the Irkutsk HPP to the present is given. The main problems that arise in the regulation of the lake level in different periods of water level in the Baikal basin, and the contradictions of the existing WRMRs are analyzed. The reasons and prerequisites for the adoption of Decree No. 234 and temporary Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation on the regulation of the lake level are pointed out. The results of individual, previously performed studies on this issue are presented. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the proposed “environmental requirements” that must be taken into account when regulating the level of the lake. The reasons that do not allow their practical application are noted. The ideas that have developed in recent years about the causes of emerging problems and ways to solve them are considered. The most urgent and still unresolved issues related to the level regulation are highlighted. To form scientifically based and practicable principles for regulating the level of Lake Baikal in different water level conditions, taking into account modern environmental, socio-economic and water management requirements and restrictions, it is reasonable to carry out a comprehensive research work. The purpose, main tasks and expected results of research work on the topic “The impact of changes in the water level in Lake Baikal on the state of the lake ecosystem, the determination of damage to economic facilities and infrastructure of the coastal territory of the Republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast, depending on the levels of the lake and discharges from the Irkutsk HPP” are outlined. The work has been carried out within the framework of the national project “Ecology” (“Preservation of Lake Baikal” subproject) by the institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, and the Federal Agency for Fishery.