Tracking pollution and its sources in the catchment‐lake system of major waterbodies in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to identify the sources and routes of entry of heavy metals and nutrients into several large waterbodies in the arid zone of Kazakhstan, namely Lake Balkhash and Samarkan and Shardara reservoirs. A data visualization method was used for this purpose. Statistical mapping, based on referencing coordinates of the material selection points, was performed with the Statistics 12.0 program. Matching statistical maps with the waterbody contours was performed in Adobe Photoshop. Maps of the spatial distribution of heavy metals (cadmium, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc and copper) and nutrients were constructed for all three study waterbodies. Data visualization clearly illustrated the relationship between the distribution of pollutants in the study waterbodies, as well as the sources of anthropogenic pollution. Based on the mapping exercise, it was established that Cu and Zn entered the waterbodies mainly in agricultural waste waters, while Cd, Ni, Co, Pb and partly Zn entered the waterbodies mainly in industrial and surface run‐off. Nutrients enter the waterbodies mainly in river and municipal waters. The constructed maps demonstrate the role of the constant flow in the distribution of pollutants in the waters of Lake Balkhash. The results also indicate that statistical mapping is an effective tool for identifying the sources and routes of pollutant entry into waterbodies. The imposition of statistical maps on the contours of waterbodies of concern provides a mapping method allowing for more visually compelling data and information for a wide circle of users and managers.

New data on diversity and distribution of fish in shallow waters in western Lake Balkhash (Kazakhstan)

“…Flow regulation in the lower reaches of the Ili River after the Kapchagay reservoir dam construction, high water pollution with organic and heavy metals, overfishing and poaching impact on ecosystem of the western Balkhash have long history. This was recently traced in several publications that reported escalation of negative loading on the ecosystem (Graham et al, 2017;Krupa et al, 2020;Mischke et al, 2020;Pueppke et al, 2018;Sala et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, the western part of lake is the main place of commercial fish reproduction (Imentai et al, 2015). The increase in population density and the lack of effective environmental control led to dangerous pollution of the aquatic environment (Krupa et al, 2020;Mischke et al, 2020;Sala et al, 2020) and poaching on a large scale (Graham et al, 2017;Pueppke et al, 2018). Recent data about the human impact on the fish fauna are very limited and the status and dynamics of fish populations are not well known (Imentai et al, 2015).…”

Microalgae, in Spatial Assessment of the Drainage Basin, Influences on the Ecosystem of Lake Agmon, Israel

“…There are more than 200 nature reserves in Israel, the territory of which, most often, is confined to water. However, with a developed monitoring system, biological indicators are not included in observations, and only chemical variables of water are determined [42].…”

Diatom Algae-Indicators of Water Quality in the Lower Zarafshan River, Uzbekistan

“…Simultaneously, the main sources of the heavy metals (primarily arsenic and zinc) probably can be the ore-processed manufactures located in the territory of Tajikistan [18]. Similar pollution with a very high content of nutrients was found in the wastewater storage system in Kazakhstan [65], which can be properties of anthropogenically polluted water bodies in the semi-arid climatic zone of Central Asia [18,32].…”