8
River Basin Councils: Evidence
from Russia
Anna S. Aladyshkina, Valeriya V. Lakshina,
and Liudmila A. Leonova
Abstract
Integrated water resource management is a
process that promotes the comprehensive
development and management of water, land
and other resources to maximize economic
and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of
vital ecosystems. The water management
system still requires improvement and further
development. In particular, various usage
conditions for the same water body in different
Russian regions give rise to social conflicts
and escalation of negative public sentiment.
Moreover different Russian regions may
establish various sanctions for same offense
for the same water object, for example,
violation of the human life protection rules
on water or the rules for the use of small boats
equipped with motors. Currently, basin agreements are concluded only for inter-regional
water objects, i.e. catchment area, which is
located within several subjects of the Russian
Federation, it does not take into account the
cross-border nature of the water objects,
located in the territory of one subject of the
Russian Federation, but covers the boundaries
of several administrative areas.
Keywords
River Á Basin Á Management Á Council Á
Russia
8.1 Introduction
Water resources are an essential part of Russia's
natural resources. In spite of the abundant supply
of freshwater, the size and quality of water
resources are a vital issue, given the volume of
untreated sewage contaminants. In this regard,
small rivers make their important contribution to
the formation of the water system.
The main national natural resource regulators
are the government and the legislatures, who are
able to set rules and control their fulfillment.
Ecological politics in regard to natural resources,
including water resources, can be implemented in
many different ways: by administrative power,
economic effect, or social motivation. But the
achievement of efficient water resource usage is
hampered by the fact that these resources are
collective access ones. In microeconomic theory,
this problem is called “the tragedy of commons”.
The essence of this phenomenon is in that economic agents, maximizing their individual gains
from natural resource usage, do not take into
A. S. Aladyshkina (&) Á V. V. Lakshina Á
L. A. Leonova
HSE University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
e-mail: aaladyshkina@hse.ru
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
B. W. Pandey and S. Anand (eds.), Water Science and Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57488-8_8
101
River Basin Councils: Evidence
from Russia
Anna S. Aladyshkina, Valeriya V. Lakshina,
and Liudmila A. Leonova
Abstract
Integrated water resource management is a
process that promotes the comprehensive
development and management of water, land
and other resources to maximize economic
and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of
vital ecosystems. The water management
system still requires improvement and further
development. In particular, various usage
conditions for the same water body in different
Russian regions give rise to social conflicts
and escalation of negative public sentiment.
Moreover different Russian regions may
establish various sanctions for same offense
for the same water object, for example,
violation of the human life protection rules
on water or the rules for the use of small boats
equipped with motors. Currently, basin agreements are concluded only for inter-regional
water objects, i.e. catchment area, which is
located within several subjects of the Russian
Federation, it does not take into account the
cross-border nature of the water objects,
located in the territory of one subject of the
Russian Federation, but covers the boundaries
of several administrative areas.
Keywords
River Á Basin Á Management Á Council Á
Russia
8.1 Introduction
Water resources are an essential part of Russia's
natural resources. In spite of the abundant supply
of freshwater, the size and quality of water
resources are a vital issue, given the volume of
untreated sewage contaminants. In this regard,
small rivers make their important contribution to
the formation of the water system.
The main national natural resource regulators
are the government and the legislatures, who are
able to set rules and control their fulfillment.
Ecological politics in regard to natural resources,
including water resources, can be implemented in
many different ways: by administrative power,
economic effect, or social motivation. But the
achievement of efficient water resource usage is
hampered by the fact that these resources are
collective access ones. In microeconomic theory,
this problem is called “the tragedy of commons”.
The essence of this phenomenon is in that economic agents, maximizing their individual gains
from natural resource usage, do not take into
A. S. Aladyshkina (&) Á V. V. Lakshina Á
L. A. Leonova
HSE University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
e-mail: aaladyshkina@hse.ru
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
B. W. Pandey and S. Anand (eds.), Water Science and Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57488-8_8
101