Water Availability and Lake Fund of Water Deficit Regions

Despite the significant amount of water resources, Russia is characterized by their uneven distribution over the territory. As a result, a number of regions are characterized by low water availability, due to both physiographic factors and the specifics of the settlement and economic development of the country. This article presents the specific water availability evaluation data calculated for all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, taking into account the resources of both river and lake waters. The calculation of water availability due to lake waters is based on new assessment data on lakes water resources, carried out at the Institute of Limnology, Russian Academy of Sciences. On the basis of the obtained values of water availability, the regions of the greatest water deficit are outlined and their lake fund is estimated. At present almost 60% of the population of Russia lives in regions with low and medium water availability, including about 20% in regions where water availability is characterized as “very low” and “catastrophically low”. Most of these regions belong to the zone of insufficient moisture, however, a number of regions of the zone of sufficient moisture also experience excessive pressure on water resources due to high population. Most of the regions with low and medium water availability have significant reserves of water contained in artificial reservoirs, the total volume of which exceeds 100 km3. In addition, a number of regions also have significant reserves of lake water, including fresh water. Lakes located in the zone of insufficient moisture and characterized by low water availability contain a total of ~ 37 km3 of water, including ~ 20 km3 of fresh water. At the zone of sufficient moisture in the lakes of regions with low water availability ~ 2.4 km3 of fresh water is contained.