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

Based on regular observations of the water-level regime of Lake Baikal, we studied the characteristics of interannual fluctuations in the level of the water body under natural conditions and in the period of the regulated lake. There were differences in the onset of the seasonal water level extremes, the range of its fluctuations and the rate of its increase/decrease in different months. The main differences in the characteristics of the water-level regime of the lake were associated with forcing and anomalous periods in terms of water content. In the forcing years, the interannual range of fluctuations in the water level increased by 20-25 %, and the dates of autumn water filling of the lake delayed up to 30-40 days. The intensity of increase in the water level after the regulation of the lake remained within 6-7 mm/day but reached 18 mm/day in August 1973. The restructuring of interannual fluctuations in the surface water inflow to the lake caused by climate change could also affect the changes in individual indicators of the water-level regime of Lake Baikal. The assumption about the adaptability of Baikal organisms to the water-level regime of the lake, which existed under natural conditions, included concerns about the need to preserve its main parameters in the years after regulation of the lake. Some problems are pointed out regarding the compliance with the rules for the use of the Baikal water resources and maintenance the optimal water-level regime of the lake for its aquatic biological resources. The major problems are the new restrictions of the discharge through the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station both in terms of non-flooding of economic facilities in the downstream of the hydroelectric complex and in terms of ensuring uninterrupted water and heat supply to the cities located there. Also, there are restrictions of the upper limit water level of Lake Baikal in the zone of variable backwater. Moreover, the existing legislation concerning regulation of the lake runoff and its water level needs to be improved.