Environmental Risks of Water Resources in the Belarusian Polesie

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of water resources in Belarusian Polesie. Surface water resources analysis was carried out for the different types of runoffs. There was a significant decrease in maximum spring runoff and a decrease in the average annual runoff. A statistically significant increase in the minimum winter runoff is observed for the rivers of the Pripyat River basin. For the minimum summer–autumn runoff, there was no unambiguous trend in the runoff change. Quality of natural waters analysis included investigation of the annual concentrations of priority substances in the water of some rivers in Polesie for dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrogen, petroleum products, copper, zinc, etc. In general, there have been trends toward a pollution decrease in the Polesie Rivers. The possible consequences of changes in river runoff due to climate change are considered. The priority tasks of research on solving the Polesie water problems are outlined.