The main river of the river basin (hydrographic
basin level unit) is a large river. The basins of
such rivers are located in several geographic
zones, and the hydrological regime is not peculiar to the rivers of each geographical area separately. The large rivers are plain rivers with a
basin of more than 50,000 km
2 as well as rivers
that are predominantly mountainous with a
catchment area of more than 30,000 km
2 (State
Duma, 2006).
Each district has a river basin council, which
is aimed at the development of recommendations
on the use and protection of water bodies. Basin
councils’ recommendations are directed to the
appropriate federal or subject executive authorities and local government. Further, the recommendations are taken into account in the
development of schemes of complex use and
protection of water bodies.
According to the State Duma (2006), basin
councils carry out the development of recommendations, including:
– The procedure of establishing and determining the water quality in water objects;
– The formation of the list of measures for water
bodies protection;
– Determination of water intake and relevant
quality wastewater discharge limits;
– Ensuring the safe operation of water supply
systems;
– Definition of the main targets for reducing the
negative effects from floods and other adverse
effects from water and the formation of a list
of measures to achieve those targets;
– Financing of the planned actions from different sources and formation mechanisms to
attract extra-budgetary funds for the implementation of water management activities.
Basin councils discuss the problems of water
management within the entrusted river basin,
work out an agreed program of joint action, and
submit it to the relevant authorities. The resulted
program is expected to be taken into account in
the budgets of various levels.
The positive experience of basin agreements
and councils accumulated in many countries
(Sivakov 2010). In several European countries
(for example, France, Spain), basin councils are
key entities in the water sector management and
possess the appropriate financial and administrative authorities. At the heart of this, democratic management system is equal basis
engaging of representatives of all stakeholders,
who are interested in the water resource protection and use, i.e. government agencies at various
levels, water users, the business, the public.
In fact, the river basin, including groundwater,
is a natural ecosystem, which has clear geographical boundaries within which the water
management should be carried out. Rivers do not
recognize administrative borders and political
preferences; therefore, the river basin seems to be
the perfect control unit. Integrated water resource
management is directed to the prevention of
conflicts between water users, reducing the negative externalities, and easy assessment of the
relationship between water users located below
and above the river.
Taking into account, the above-mentioned
opportunity of small groups of people to develop
effective strategies of natural resource usage, the
basin management principles should be applied
not only for the major river basins but also in the
implementation of water relations at the level of
small river basins at intermunicipal level. Small
rivers are the source of water supply for settlements, industry, and agriculture. In some cases,
small rivers partially dehydrate due to stalled
streams and springs, siltation, waterlogging, and
overgrowing of many shallow rivers.
We examine the problem of water resource
management on the example of Nizhny Novgorod region. Rivers flowing through the territory of the region are presented in Table 8.1. We
can see that only three rivers can be classified as
large ones, basin area of the rest rivers is less
than 50,000 km
2 . Additionally, 13 rivers flow not
only through the Nizhny Novgorod region but
also through the territory of neighboring regions
of the Russian Federation. Regulation of water
use, in this case, requires transition to the interregional and intermunicipal levels.
Due to the complex nature of water usage, the
same water body can be used for different
104
A. S. Aladyshkina et al.
basin level unit) is a large river. The basins of
such rivers are located in several geographic
zones, and the hydrological regime is not peculiar to the rivers of each geographical area separately. The large rivers are plain rivers with a
basin of more than 50,000 km
2 as well as rivers
that are predominantly mountainous with a
catchment area of more than 30,000 km
2 (State
Duma, 2006).
Each district has a river basin council, which
is aimed at the development of recommendations
on the use and protection of water bodies. Basin
councils’ recommendations are directed to the
appropriate federal or subject executive authorities and local government. Further, the recommendations are taken into account in the
development of schemes of complex use and
protection of water bodies.
According to the State Duma (2006), basin
councils carry out the development of recommendations, including:
– The procedure of establishing and determining the water quality in water objects;
– The formation of the list of measures for water
bodies protection;
– Determination of water intake and relevant
quality wastewater discharge limits;
– Ensuring the safe operation of water supply
systems;
– Definition of the main targets for reducing the
negative effects from floods and other adverse
effects from water and the formation of a list
of measures to achieve those targets;
– Financing of the planned actions from different sources and formation mechanisms to
attract extra-budgetary funds for the implementation of water management activities.
Basin councils discuss the problems of water
management within the entrusted river basin,
work out an agreed program of joint action, and
submit it to the relevant authorities. The resulted
program is expected to be taken into account in
the budgets of various levels.
The positive experience of basin agreements
and councils accumulated in many countries
(Sivakov 2010). In several European countries
(for example, France, Spain), basin councils are
key entities in the water sector management and
possess the appropriate financial and administrative authorities. At the heart of this, democratic management system is equal basis
engaging of representatives of all stakeholders,
who are interested in the water resource protection and use, i.e. government agencies at various
levels, water users, the business, the public.
In fact, the river basin, including groundwater,
is a natural ecosystem, which has clear geographical boundaries within which the water
management should be carried out. Rivers do not
recognize administrative borders and political
preferences; therefore, the river basin seems to be
the perfect control unit. Integrated water resource
management is directed to the prevention of
conflicts between water users, reducing the negative externalities, and easy assessment of the
relationship between water users located below
and above the river.
Taking into account, the above-mentioned
opportunity of small groups of people to develop
effective strategies of natural resource usage, the
basin management principles should be applied
not only for the major river basins but also in the
implementation of water relations at the level of
small river basins at intermunicipal level. Small
rivers are the source of water supply for settlements, industry, and agriculture. In some cases,
small rivers partially dehydrate due to stalled
streams and springs, siltation, waterlogging, and
overgrowing of many shallow rivers.
We examine the problem of water resource
management on the example of Nizhny Novgorod region. Rivers flowing through the territory of the region are presented in Table 8.1. We
can see that only three rivers can be classified as
large ones, basin area of the rest rivers is less
than 50,000 km
2 . Additionally, 13 rivers flow not
only through the Nizhny Novgorod region but
also through the territory of neighboring regions
of the Russian Federation. Regulation of water
use, in this case, requires transition to the interregional and intermunicipal levels.
Due to the complex nature of water usage, the
same water body can be used for different
104
A. S. Aladyshkina et al.