Alexander Shadrikov: "The efforts of every level and branch of government, business, science and the public should be subordinated to the common task of improving our rivers"
Today, at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, Minister of Ecology Alexander Shadrikov focused on problematic issues that lead to deterioration of the rivers and lakes of Tatarstan.
One of them is diffuse effluents. Since 2022, the Ministry has been implementing a project to "Improve the ecological condition of rivers and reservoirs of the Republic of Tatarstan", an integral part of which is research work on the Kazanka River. The results of the work will become the basis for decision-making on priority measures to improve the condition of rivers throughout the country, since the sources of pollution are the same for all water bodies.
"An almost proven effective method of combating diffuse runoff is the creation of protective water protection forest strips along the shores of water bodies. The Ministry of Forestry of the Republic has reserved land plots with an area of 455.9 hectares for these purposes. Currently, the Ministry has prepared project proposals for the implementation of a pilot project on the territory of Tatarstan to create water protection protective forest strips along the shores of reservoirs within the framework of federal projects," the Minister of Ecology said.
However, Alexander Shadrikov stressed that there are still a number of issues that require further work. In particular, this is the allocation of land plots in water protection zones. Within the framework of environmental supervision, the inspection staff of the Ministry of Ecology identified more than 1 thousand land plots allocated on the coastal strips and in the water area of water bodies. In this direction, joint work is underway with the prosecutor's office, all materials are sent to take response measures.
"The efforts of every level and branch of government, business, science and the public should be subordinated to the common task of improving our rivers," the head of the environmental protection agency stressed.
He also elaborated on an urgent issue – this is the spring flood. "It is important to find a middle ground – not to flood the districts of Tatarstan and not to empty the water basin before the summer period. This requires a professional scientific approach in forecasting weather conditions and modeling the inflow and flow of water... At the end of 2023, the country's leadership decided to create a Government commission that will take control of issues of balanced water consumption in the basins of the Volga and Don rivers. The composition of the commission is currently being formed," the minister said.
At the moment, the level of the Kuibyshev reservoir is 52.5 m BS. According to Rosvodresursy data prepared based on the forecast of Roshydromet, by April 20, according to the calculated model, the reservoir level will fill up to a normal retaining level - 53 m BS.
Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin noted the completeness of the report and asked the prosecutor's office and local authorities to connect to the most problematic and pressing issues. "Who draws up these documents? How are such things allowed? Do not allow this! All responsibility falls on the local authorities. It may be worth considering this issue at one of the boards. To raise the responsibility of local self-education bodies so that we have order with water resources," the Speaker of the Parliament emphasized.