Investigation of Water Dynamics Nearby Hydroelectric Power Plant of the Gorky Reservoir on Water Environment: Case Study of 2022

Abstract

Regulated water bodies like lakes and reservoirs are increasingly becoming an object of attention due to the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, regional ecology, and the necessity to ensure safe environmental management. However, for some local tasks, it is important to assess the contribution of a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) to various parameters of the nearest water environment, for example, mortality of zooplankton, transfer of suspended matter and phytoplankton, formation of secondary deposits, methane emissions, spatial features of stratification, etc. An example of such studies is the present paper. It is based on unique data of complex measurements of hydrophysical, hydrooptical, hydrobiological, and hydrochemical water parameters, as well as methane fluxes, that were collected at the Gorky Reservoir nearby a HPP in the spring, summer, and autumn of 2022. Preliminary correlations between these parameters were obtained. The results are useful for the correct interpretation of satellite images of inland waters, quantitative description of HPPs’ influence on the water environment, knowledge of the main patterns of transformation of aquatic organism communities under conditions of runoff regulation, determination of water quality by hydrobiological parameters, development of mechanisms for improving the ecological state of water bodies, and accounting spatial heterogeneity of methane flows from the surface of the reservoir.