"We speak on behalf of 10 million of our residents!" At the State Duma Committee, Alexander Shadrikov proposed to approach the use of water resources with maximum economy
Today, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan spoke at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection on the topic "Ways to solve the problem of low water in the Volga River basin, as well as compliance with legal requirements in water protection zones." The deputies discussed the most important issues – the preservation and restoration of the Volga River level, aquatic biological resources, the construction of a reserve reservoir, a comprehensive assessment of the operability of existing water intake structures, locks, their timely reconstruction and liquidation of unattended structures.
The Minister of Ecology, who spoke via videoconference today, outlined acute issues. "I want to note separately that our appeal was born based on the appeals of citizens. Including them and our voters, dear deputies of the State Duma! We, as the executive branch, are also responsible for what is happening in the environmental sphere today. The problem covers about 10 million residents of five regions of Russia located on the banks of the Kuibyshev reservoir, and 52% of the area of this largest reservoir in Eurasia falls on Tatarstan," Alexander Shadrikov said.
He noted that a special working group has been created, which includes five regions (Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions), where forecasts, general proposals are discussed and then they are announced at meetings with Rosvodresursy.
This year, taking into account the lack of water, during the high water period Tatarstan proposed to limit the duration of the fish shelf, which would allow preserving the results of spawning of the Kuibyshev reservoir, as well as filling it for the summer period.
Also, during the entire summer period, Tatarstan, on behalf of five subjects of Russia, made a proposal to reduce discharge costs through the Zhiguli and Volgograd hydroelectric power plants in order to save water resources. Letters with proposals were sent to Rosvodresursy, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, the Government of Russia. The Minister of Ecology stressed that the level of the reservoir is also shipping, domestic tourism, the development of the Great Volga Way, which President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about.
"There is a danger, many islands have appeared, and we have to deal with this. With maximum economy, we must activate all waterworks, because we must fill the Kuibyshev reservoir by the next spring flood. According to our forecasts, we are one and a half meters short. Accordingly, what will we be left with and what social tension will there be next year?" - Alexander Shadrikov voiced the questions.
The Minister of Ecology at the Committee stressed that in order to carry out daily monitoring of the reservoir operation modes, the Ministry uses the Gidrokaskad software package. Based on his data, a model is being built for the upcoming period, which allows making reasoned decisions, since the forecasts of Roshydromet for inflow this year were often overestimated.
The minister, speaking about social tension, gave concrete examples: just a few days ago, information appeared on social networks about the mass death of fish, and if we talk in general, the result of the decrease in the Volga level in 2023 was the death of 70% of fish eggs in the Kuibyshev reservoir (according to FSBI VNIRO), it dried up after spawning because of the water discharge. This greatly affects the reproduction of biological resources in the basin of the reservoir and the entire Volga cascade.
"We ask you to strictly observe the rules for the use of water resources, which were adopted a long time ago, which we have talked about more than once. The smartest people created the Volga-Kama Cascade, and, accordingly, the smartest scientists adopted these rules for the use of water resources! — said the head of the Ministry of Ecology of Tatarstan.
Let us recall that the Ministry of Ecology has repeatedly voiced its proposals to resolve the situation. These are reducing discharge costs and filling the reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade to a normal retaining level (53 mBS) during high water, finalizing and approving the Rules for the Use of water resources of the Kuibyshev, Saratov and Volgograd reservoirs, construction of low-pressure hydroelectric units (reservoirs) for the possibility of accumulating water resources for the summer period, as well as increasing the regulatory capacity of the Volga-Kama cascade by raising the level of the Nizhnekamsk reservoir to the level of 64.0 m BS.