The events within the framework of the national project "Ecology" became the key topic of the meeting of the Basin Council of the Nizhnevolzhsky Basin District
The meeting was attended by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of the Lower Volga Basin Water Management Nikolay Ponomarev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexander Shadrikov, as well as heads of ministries and environmental agencies of other regions of Russia.
As the President of Tatarstan noted in his welcoming speech, water is a strategically important resource today. "This is a source of water supply, energy, transport resource and a resource for ensuring the activities of all sectors of the economy. There are 36 thousand water bodies in the republic now, such natural wealth needs to be protected and preserved." Just how to protect and preserve was discussed at the Basin Council. Representatives of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kalmykia, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd, Orenburg and Astrakhan regions gathered in Kazan these days to discuss and coordinate cooperation in solving problems of rational use of water. These are shore protection works, construction of engineering protection facilities, overhaul of hydraulic structures, cleaning and rehabilitation of water bodies. One of the key topics of discussion was the events within the framework of the federal projects "Improvement of the Volga" and "Preservation of unique water bodies" of the national project "Ecology". According to the head of the Lower Volga Basin Water Management Nikolay Ponomarev, measures to improve the Volga River are always relevant. "The load on the Volga is really big. But systematic work gives its results. In the first half of this year, the volume of wastewater discharged to the Volga was reduced to 2.47 cubic km. This figure is higher than the planned value of the annual indicator, which means that the planned value of the annual indicator was achieved ahead of schedule," he said. The speaker also said that Tatarstan is among the leaders in the territory of the Lower Volga Basin District in terms of the growth of wastewater treatment facilities providing wastewater treatment. And the Saratov Region is the leader in reducing the volume of wastewater discharged into the river.
Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Alexander Shadrikov also made a report. He told what events are being implemented in Tatarstan within the framework of the national project "Ecology". One of the key and capital-intensive federal projects within the framework of this national project is the "Improvement of the Volga". "The main goal of the project is to improve the ecological condition of the main waterway of the country by reducing the volume of contaminated wastewater by three times. For this purpose, the construction and reconstruction of 13 treatment facilities and the elimination of 2 objects of accumulated environmental damage are planned on the territory of our Republic. Thus, in 2019-2021, 12 wastewater treatment plants in 10 municipalities have already been built and reconstructed in Tatarstan. Since last year, the reconstruction of biological sewage treatment plants in Kazan has begun, and their share in the total volume of wastewater accounts for 42 percent of the total volume of wastewater in the Republic," the head of the Tatarstan department reported. In his speech, he touched upon the topic of improving the Noxa (a new project is being prepared for the eco–rehabilitation of this river) and another large river – the Kama.
The initiative of the subjects on the need to adopt a special federal project "Improving the Kama River" has already been supported at the federal level and a single federal project is currently being developed aimed at improving the condition of water bodies of the Russian Federation, which will include measures to improve the Volga, Kama and other major rivers of Russia. According to Nikolay Ponomarev, due to the high efficiency, the Volga River rehabilitation project has been extended until 2030. "The project will be included in the new federal project "Improvement of water bodies of Russia" of the national project "Ecology"," the head of the LVBWM added that funding will begin in 2025.
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The Basin Council was established in accordance with the Water Code of the Russian Federation to ensure the rational use and protection of water bodies and to develop recommendations for the use and protection of water bodies located within the boundaries of the basin district. The Lower Volga Basin District includes water bodies of the Volga River basin from the upper reaches of the Kuibyshev Reservoir to the confluence with the Caspian Sea and the territories of 8 subjects of the Russian Federation (Republic of Tatarstan, Ulyanovsk Region, Samara Region, Saratov Region, Volgograd Region, Orenburg Region, Astrakhan Region, Republic of Kalmykia).