Water resources solutions. Contemporary environmental issues

Krivoshey V.A., Doctor of Technical Sciences

Russia is one of the most abundant countries in the world. On its territory there are over 2.5 million rivers, more than 2 million lakes and about 30 thousand reservoirs.

The total fresh water reserves in Russia are estimated at 7770.6 km3, of which 4270 km3 is occupied by river runoff.

With such significant resources, a number of Russian territories experience an acute shortage of water due to the low quality and uneven distribution of water. The European part of Russia, where about 80% of the population and the main industrial potential is concentrated, accounts for only about 8% of the country's water resources. About 50% of the population use water that does not meet sanitary and hygienic requirements. In a number of cities, water is supplied to residential areas on schedule with significant interruptions. At the same time, the sources of centralized water supply are not protected from pollution, and the technologies used do not provide water treatment to regulatory requirements. For this reason, for example, in 2004, about 20 km 3 of polluted water was discharged into surface water bodies, which is approximately 35% of the total volume of wastewater discharged. Under these conditions, the main tasks of the Federal Agency for Water Resources are to ensure the rational use, restoration and protection of water bodies, meeting the needs of the population and the economy of the Russian Federation in water resources. To implement these tasks, a departmental target program "Water Resources and Water Objects" will be formed. Work in this direction is already underway.

The second major problem is the continuing growth of damage from the harmful effects of water. This problem has existed almost always, but in recent years, for a number of objective and subjective reasons, it has become especially acute. This is confirmed by a number of large floods that have occurred in recent years in many subjects of the Russian Federation and were accompanied by significant damage and loss of life.

As a result of a catastrophic flood in the city of Lensk in 2001, 2,692 houses were completely destroyed and 1,527 houses were damaged. 41 thousand people had to be evacuated from the flood zone. 26 people died. The damage from the emergency amounted to more than 8 billion rubles.

In the Southern Federal District in June 2002, the flood destroyed and damaged more than 40,000 residential buildings. About 380 thousand people suffered. 114 people died, and the damage from the emergency amounted to more than 18 billion rubles.

In general, in the Russian Federation, the annual damage from floods and floods is more than 40 billion rubles.

Analyzing the causes of the ongoing floods, it should be said that no patterns in their passage have yet been established. “It is easier to establish the pattern of movement of infinitely distant luminaries than the pattern of a stream flowing at our feet” (G. Galileo). This is true, since the study of floods is a very difficult task, the solution of which depends on a large number of factors:

• climatic, directly related to air temperature, precipitation and humidity;
• physical-geographical, including the features of river basins and the geological structure of the soil;
• morphometric, related to the arrangement of the river channel and floodplain;
• hydraulic, associated with the shape of the channel, which determines its throughput;
• anthropogenic, depending on economic activity in the channel and floodplain of the river, etc.

Almost all of these factors have not been studied enough, and therefore, to combat floods, preventive measures are applied that are calculated on outstanding floods with a frequency of once every 50-100 years.

The previously existing system for ensuring the safe passage of floods and floods included a set of measures that made it possible to prevent serious damage. Scientific and design organizations worked proactively, well-thought-out planning and forecasting were carried out, and funds were allocated in the required volumes. At the same time, the measures taken concerned not only one or another river, but the entire basin, which ensured a comprehensive solution to the problem and the effective use of federal budget funds.

Since the 90s this system has been broken. Science has to a large extent broken away from design and, for a number of objective and subjective reasons, could no longer offer concrete and effective measures for the safe passage of floods and floods. The design broke away from real conditions and continued to be based on old developments of the 30-50s. The quality of workmanship has plummeted. As a result, even small funds allocated for solving the problems of safe passage of floods and floods began to be used inefficiently.

Recently, the situation has become even more complicated. Responsibility for ensuring the development and implementation of anti-flood measures is now assigned to the Federal Agency for Water Resources, and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation seem to have nothing to do with it. Even along the smallest river, on the banks of which the foot of a federal official has never set foot and it can be assumed with full confidence that he will never set foot, the Agency answers. He prepares a draft budget, distributes funds, but has practically no real opportunities to control the spending of funds. It would be correct to strictly delineate powers between the Federal Agency for Water Resources and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. As an option, it is possible to consider the transfer to the Agency of powers, within the limits determined by the legislation of the Russian Federation, for the main rivers crossing two or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as their first and second order tributaries. For other rivers, responsibility should be assigned to the subjects of the Russian Federation. A clear distribution of responsibility will give clearer results. Especially if the risk criteria for the use of flood-prone areas, the principles of their zoning and the regulations for economic activity in flooded areas are established. An important element of the overall flood protection strategy is the federal and territorial programs for "Prevention and reduction of damage from floods and other harmful effects of water" for 2006-08. Such programs are expected to be developed in the near future, which will give exceptionally positive results.

The third especially major problem is the problem of the safety of hydraulic structures (HTS). Today, the Russian Federation operates 29.4 thousand pressure GTS, which solve the problems of hydropower, water transport, fisheries and agriculture, and about 10 thousand km of protective structures. Almost all pressurized GTS are potentially dangerous for the life of the population and the economy of the country. In recent years, the state of the GTS has been constantly deteriorating. The average percentage of wear of pressure GTS is approaching 50%. The accident rate at Russian GTS has already exceeded the world average by 2.5 times. At the same time, up to 60 accidents occur annually with damage in current prices from 2 to 10 billion rubles.

In accordance with the Federal Law "On the Safety of Hydraulic Structures", the owner and operating organization are responsible for the safety of hydraulic structures. The federal property includes facilities for complex purposes located on water bodies passing through two or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Fig. 1), as well as those located on transboundary water bodies of international importance. The property of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation includes structures of territorial significance, non-state property (municipal, or legal and natural persons) - structures that ensure the use of water and its preparation for the production process, structures of energy facilities, etc. Finally, there are ownerless GTS, and structures with unspecified form of ownership.

Rice. one. Distribution of forms of ownership for pressure GTS.

The situation is complicated by the fact that most of the hydraulic structures do not have maintenance personnel and have been in operation for 20 to 50 years. 293 structures are over 100 years old! In the hydropower industry, for example, where the country's largest reservoirs are formed by the hydroelectric power system, 18 hydroelectric power plants have already exceeded the service life of 50 years, and 11 of them have crossed the 60-year mark.

In accordance with the provisions on federal services, supervision (control) over the safety of hydraulic structures is carried out by Rostekhnadzor, Rostransnadzor, Rosprirodnadzor. The main document justifying the safety of the HTS and its compliance with the safety criteria is a safety declaration drawn up by the owner or operating organization and approved by the supervisory authority. As of today, out of 6424 hydraulic structures subject to the federal law “On the Safety of Hydraulic Structures”, only 785 structures have safety declarations, i.e. 12.2%. The remaining structures are operated without the necessary permits, which indicates a failure to comply with the Federal Law "On the Safety of Hydraulic Structures" and a number of decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation.

A particularly difficult situation has developed for small and medium GTS. For the majority of hydraulic structures, safety criteria have not been established, safety declarations have not been developed, and funding for measures in the field of hydraulic structures safety is clearly insufficient.

The necessary design documentation is missing, and, consequently, the design values ​​of the controlled indicators of the state of the GTS are missing.

There is no regulatory and methodological documentation for the simplified declaration of small hydraulic structures.

The cost of declaring and examining hydraulic structures safety declarations is high (approximately from 0.5 to 1 million rubles per facility). Many owners and operating organizations simply do not have such funds.

The situation is aggravated by the lack of the necessary control and measuring equipment, a decrease in full-scale surveys of hydraulic structures, as well as the continuing reduction of qualified specialists, which does not allow monitoring the indicators of the condition of hydraulic structures, developing and clarifying safety criteria for hydraulic structures, analyzing the reasons for reducing the safety of hydraulic structures, maintaining readiness of local warning systems about emergencies at the GTS.

Much of what has been said also applies to industry-specific institutions, whose capabilities to perform relevant work for industries aimed at ensuring the safe operation of facilities are currently significantly limited and continue to steadily decline.

It is clear that under such conditions it is practically impossible to speed up work on declaring the safety of hydraulic structures - it can only lead to a sharp deterioration in the quality of work and a complete profanation of the very idea of ​​ensuring the safety of hydraulic structures.

Analyzing the reasons for the current negative situation at the GTS, the main ones include:

• first of all, departmental disunity, which does not allow for a unified technical policy in the field of hydraulic structures safety and the concentration of funds for the implementation of the most important water management projects;
• imperfection of legislative, normative-legal and normative-technical support;
• the reasons that have already been mentioned: the lack of qualified personnel, the unresolved number of issues of ownership of the hydraulic structures, the insufficient amount of funding allocated to ensure the safety of the hydraulic structures, etc.

Since 2005 (Fig. 2), funds from the water use tax began to go to the federal budget, and then to the Federal Agency for Water Resources to be sent to business entities that have water management facilities and GTS on their balance sheets.

Rice. 2. Schematic diagram of financing the maintenance, development and protection of the GTS.

At the same time, the total amount of budget financing (Fig. 3) increased by almost 4 times, which will make it possible to carry out priority work to restore the bearing capacity of structures and maintain the pressure fronts of reservoirs.

Rice. 3. Scope of work at the GTS of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Agency for Water Resources will continue work on the construction of protective dams in Lensk, Olekminsk and Yakutsk, the Kursk and Zlatoust reservoirs, as well as on blocking the Pemzenskaya and Beshenaya channels near the city of Khabarovsk. At the same time, the Agency is developing a "System for ensuring the safety of hydraulic structures and preventing the harmful effects of water during floods and floods", as well as the departmental target program "Safety of water management systems and hydraulic structures (2006-2008)" - programs of exceptional importance.

The Ministry of Transport of Russia continues work on the construction of the second line of the Kochetovsky lock on the Lower Don, the reconstruction of the gas transportation system of the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the replacement of metal structures for the gates of shipping locks.

RAO "UES of Russia" is completing the construction of the Bureyskaya HPP and continues the construction of the Boguchanskaya HPP.

Work continues on the liquidation of ownerless hydraulic structures or their transfer to the ownership of municipalities or economic entities, as required by Art. 225 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Work is underway to restore project documentation and develop action plans for operating services and supervisory authorities in the event of emergencies and liquidation of their consequences, as well as training specialists for actions to localize and eliminate emergencies.

At the same time, an effective solution to the safety issues of hydraulic structures can be achieved only if an integrated system for ensuring their safety is created (Fig. 4), which includes an effective and economically justified management structure; responsibility for actions or omissions leading to a decrease in the safety level of the GTS; regulatory support and procedures that reflect real processes in water bodies; a unified information system for ensuring the safety of structures; unified system of physical protection; and the necessary resources, including finance, logistics and human resources.

Rice. 4. The system for ensuring the safety of the GTS.

The basis for such a system can be the federal laws "On the safety of hydraulic structures", "On technical regulation" and the new Water Code of the Russian Federation, which has already passed the first reading in the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

A great achievement of the developers of the Code is the inclusion in the bill of an entry on the use and protection of water bodies, as well as the operation of the hydraulic structures located on them on the basis of the principle of unity of functions for the economic management of water bodies, which, among other things, provides for the implementation of the functions of the Unified Balance Holder of the hydraulic structures.

Legislative approval of this principle will inevitably involve the creation of one or several legal entities, on the balance sheet of which the GTS of federal property will be located.

At the same time, this will mean the concentration of powers and functions in the field of GTS security, as well as the rights of ownership and accounting in a single center (the Unified GTS balance holder), which will entail a fundamental change in the GTS management system. A single GTS balance holder, determined by the Government of the Russian Federation and under the jurisdiction of one of the ministries, will build its work in accordance with federal and regional programs. Among the priorities of the programs are:

• completion of the inventory and monitoring of hydraulic structures with the identification of the most dangerous and pre-emergency hydraulic structures;
• completion of work on compiling the Russian GTS Register and compiling safety declarations for these GTS;
• creation of a unified information system for ensuring the safety of hydraulic structures;
• creation of a unified system of physical protection of hydraulic structures;
• normative-legal and normative-technical support.

  In the long term, you need:

• establishment of the safety level of the GTS;
• bringing the GTS to a standard state;
• improvement of normative and technical documentation, guidelines and instructions;
• improvement of the resource support of the GTS, based on scientifically based standards;
• improvement of planning, forecasting and coordination of hydraulic structures safety issues.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that the attitude towards the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS is ambiguous, and primarily because of the sectoral principle that has developed since Soviet times in resolving issues. Every man for himself. There would be nothing wrong with this principle if the issues of GTS safety were really addressed and if federal budget funds were effectively spent. Neither one nor the other exists today.

To operate, for example, a dozen hydraulic structures in one river basin, today it is necessary to maintain specialized staff of a number of ministries, federal agencies and their territorial bodies, federal supervision services with the corresponding territorial bodies, as well as structures of industry operators. At the same time, even at one hydroelectric complex, several operating organizations subordinate to various ministries and departments can work - each work according to its own understanding, having its own security and, as it were, independently of its “neighbors”. Naturally, such an approach leads to unreasonably high costs, inefficient use of state property, and, most importantly, does not solve security issues at water bodies.

In 1993, as a result of the destruction of the Kiselevskoye reservoir in the Sverdlovsk region, the amount of damage in the corresponding prices exceeded 70 billion rubles.

The accident at the Tirlyanskaya dam in 1994 in Bashkiria caused losses of more than 10 billion rubles, 22 people died.

The destruction in 1994 of the western line of the Perm shipping lock (6-chamber lock 1.5 km long) caused damage of more than 20 billion rubles. Until now, this object has not been restored.

It can be assumed that in the future the situation will only worsen, since no significant and effective actions in the field of preventing accidents at hydraulic structures have been taken by ministries and departments yet. Hence, the creation of the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS is absolutely necessary, since it will contribute to the solution of long-standing problems. It is important to note that the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS should be an exclusively independent structure created to solve strictly defined tasks related to ensuring the safety of the GTS. Giving these powers to any of the already existing federal agencies can discredit the idea of ​​integrated security at the GTS and give the opposite result.

The unified balance holder of the GTS should not operate the facilities itself. This will be done by specialized organizations, with which the Single Balance Holder of the GTS will conclude an agreement to ensure the stable and safe operation of the GTS. The main task of the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS is to carry out a unified technical policy aimed at ensuring the safety of the GTS and bringing the GTS into a standard state with its further improvement and development.

The advantage of such a system is that it can actually improve the safety of hydraulic structures by reducing the damage from their destruction by up to 10 billion rubles. in year. It finds support among the GTS operators and will finally allow people to pay depending on their experience and knowledge, and this, in turn, will increase the attractiveness of professions involved in the maintenance and development of the GTS, and will help attract young professionals.

It should be said that, while solving the issue of the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS, it would be appropriate to resolve the issue of optimizing supervision over the safety of the GTS. At present, there has been a confusion in the country of the concepts of supervision and control, and therefore it would be correct to separate supervision, as the highest degree of state control over the safety of hydraulic structures, from the actual control over the safety of hydraulic structures. At the same time, supervision will be carried out by civil servants, and control - not necessarily by civil servants.

The functions of control by the nature of their duties could be carried out by the Unified Balance Holder of the GTS, which will be most interested in ensuring the safety of the GTS, the efficiency of the use of state property and the efficiency of the use of federal budget funds. This approach will also be correct because, in accordance with the Federal Law “On the Protection of the Rights of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs in the Course of State Control (Supervision)”, each state control (supervision) body can carry out a planned control measure no more than once a year. 2 years. What about in between? Who will check, for example, the readiness of the GTS for a flood? Who will check the readiness of the forces and means necessary to prevent and eliminate possible accidents at the GTS? Who will check compliance with the operating regimes of large reservoirs? Etc. The conclusion suggests itself - the single balance holder of the GTS.

This will be effective and economically justified, since it will not require an increase in the number of personnel for the implementation of control functions.

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Leading Researcher, Department of Industrial and Regional Economics, RISS,

Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Speech on situational analysis "Global problems of water resources".

Approximately 54% of all available surface water runoff (usable, renewable fresh water) is currently used by the world's population. Taking into account the growth rate of the global economy, the growth rate of the world's population (an increase of 85 million people per year), and other factors, this figure is expected to increase to 70% by 2025.

According to the UN, in more than 18 countries there is a shortage of water (a level of 1000 or less cubic meters per 1 person/year), which makes it almost impossible to satisfy the needs of national economies and the communal needs of citizens. According to forecasts, the number of such states will grow to 33 by 2025.

At a critically low level of water availability are: the Middle East, North China, Mexico, the countries of North Africa, Southeast Asia and a number of post-Soviet states. According to the World Resource Institute, Kuwait is the hardest hit, with only 11 cubic meters per capita. meters of surface water, Egypt (43 cubic meters) and the United Arab Emirates (64 cubic meters). Moldova is in 8th place in the ranking (225 cubic meters), and Turkmenistan is in 9th place (232 cubic meters).

The Russian Federation has a unique water resource potential. The total fresh water resources of Russia are estimated at 10,803 cubic meters. km/year. Renewable water resources (the volume of annual river flow in Russia) is 4861 cubic meters. km, or 10% of the world's river flow (second place after Brazil). The main drawback of Russian water resources is their extremely uneven distribution across the country. In terms of local water resources, the Southern and Far Eastern federal districts of Russia, for example, differ by almost 30 times, and by about 100 times in terms of water supply for the population.

Rivers are the basis of Russia's water resources. More than 120 thousand large rivers (more than 10 km long) flow through its territory with a total length of over 2.3 million km. The number of small rivers is much larger (over 2.5 million). They form about half of the total volume of river runoff; up to 44% of the urban and almost 90% of the rural population of the country live in their basins.

Groundwater, which is used mainly for drinking purposes, has a potential exploitable resource in excess of 300 cubic meters. km/year. More than a third of potential resources are concentrated in the European part of the country. Groundwater deposits explored to date have a total operational reserves of approximately 30 cubic meters. km / year.

In the country as a whole, the total water withdrawal for household needs is relatively small - 3% of the average long-term river flow. However, in the Volga basin, for example, it accounts for 33% of the country's total water withdrawal, and for a number of river basins, the figure exceeds the environmentally acceptable withdrawal volumes (Don - 64%, Terek - 68%, Kuban - 80% of the average annual flow). In the south of the European territory of Russia, almost all water resources are involved in economic activity. In the basins of the Ural, Tobol and Ishim rivers, water management tension has become a factor that, to a certain extent, hinders the development of the national economy.

Almost all rivers are subject to anthropogenic impact, the possibilities of extensive water intake for economic needs in many of them are generally exhausted. The water of many Russian rivers is polluted and unsuitable for drinking purposes. A serious problem is the deterioration of water quality in surface water bodies, which in most cases does not meet regulatory requirements and is assessed as unsatisfactory for almost all types of water use.

The degradation of small rivers is observed. There is their siltation, pollution, clogging, collapse of their banks. The uncontrolled withdrawal of water, the destruction and use of water protection belts and zones for economic purposes, the drainage of raised bogs led to the mass death of small rivers, thousands of which ceased to exist. Their total flow, especially in the European part of Russia, has decreased by more than 50%, resulting in the destruction of aquatic ecosystems, and makes these rivers unusable.

To date, according to experts, from 35% to 60% of drinking water in Russia and about 40% of surface and 17% of underground drinking water sources do not meet the standards. More than 6,000 sites of groundwater pollution have been identified on the territory of the country, the largest number of which is in the European part of Russia.

According to available calculations, every second inhabitant of the Russian Federation is forced to use water for drinking purposes that does not meet the established standards in a number of indicators. Almost a third of the country's population uses water sources without proper water treatment. At the same time, residents of a number of regions suffer from a lack of drinking water and the lack of proper sanitary and living conditions.

In particular, drinking water of poor quality in terms of sanitary-chemical and microbiological indicators is consumed by a part of the population in the Republics of Ingushetia, Kalmykia, Karelia, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, in the Primorsky Territory, in the Arkhangelsk, Kurgan, Saratov, Tomsk and Yaroslavl regions, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

The cause of the problem lies in the massive pollution of river and lake basins. At the same time, industrial enterprises, facilities of the fuel and energy complex, enterprises of the municipal economy and the agro-industrial sector create the main load on water bodies. The annual volume of discharged effluents has practically not changed in recent years. In 2008, for example, it amounted to 17 cubic meters. km. However, it should be noted that against this background, there is a decrease in the volume of discharges of standard treated wastewater, which occurs due to overloading of treatment facilities, their poor performance, violations of technical regulations, shortages of reagents, breakthroughs and volley discharges of pollution.

In Russia, especially in its European part, unacceptably large water losses are observed. On the way from the water source to the consumer, for example, in 2008, with a total volume of water intake from natural sources equal to 80.3 cubic meters. km, losses amounted to 7.76 km. In industry, water losses reach more than 25% (due to leaks and accidents in networks, infiltration, imperfection of technological processes). In housing and communal services, from 20 to 40% is lost (due to leaks in residential and public buildings, corrosion and deterioration of water supply networks); in agriculture - up to 30% (overwatering in crop production, overestimated water supply rates for animal husbandry).

The technological and technical backwardness of the water sector is growing, in particular, in the study and control of water quality, the preparation of drinking water, the treatment and disposal of sludge generated during the purification of natural and waste water. The development of promising schemes for the use and protection of waters necessary for sustainable water supply has been discontinued.

Global warming and climate change, as experts say, will lead to an improvement in the water supply of the Russian population as a whole. An increase in this indicator can be expected in the European territory of the country, in the Volga region, in the Non-Chernozem center, in the Urals, in most of Siberia and the Far East. At the same time, in a number of densely populated regions of the Black Earth Center of Russia (Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol and Tambov regions), Southern (Kalmykia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Rostov Region) and southwestern Siberian (Altai Territory, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk regions) of the federal districts of the Russian Federation, which even in modern conditions have rather limited water resources, in the coming decades we should expect their further decrease by 10-20%. In these regions, there may be a serious shortage of water, which can become a factor hindering economic growth and improving the welfare of the population, and there will be a need for strict regulation and limitation of water consumption, as well as attracting additional sources of water supply.

In the Altai Territory, in the Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk regions, the decrease in water resources, apparently, will not lead to critically low values ​​of water supply and to a high load on water resources. However, taking into account the fact that at the present time there are very serious problems here, in the future they may become especially acute, especially in dry periods. This is primarily due to the great variability of water resources over time and territory, as well as the trend towards an increase in the intensity of use of transboundary river flows in China and Kazakhstan. To solve these problems, it is necessary to consider the possibilities of flow regulation and the conclusion of international agreements on the joint use of the water resources of the Irtysh.

Taking into account the growing influence of climate and its changes on the sustainability of the development of the economy and social sphere of the country, it seems necessary when developing the state water policy to provide for the inclusion of tasks related to climate change in it.

In general, experts consider natural disasters, population growth, resource-intensive industrial and agricultural production, waste pollution of natural reservoirs, coastal areas, groundwater and groundwater to be the main reasons for the negative trends in the field of water resources and possible restrictions on their use. In this regard, one of the most important tasks is to protect the country's aquatic ecosystems and promote the rational use of water in agriculture, industry and everyday life.

This is of particular relevance, since with the large natural resources of surface and groundwater in Russia, the predominant part of which is located in the eastern and northern regions, economically developed European regions with a high level of integrated use of water resources have practically exhausted the possibility of their development without rationalizing water use, saving water and restoring the quality of the aquatic environment.

Yesterday I watched a film about the life of African tribes in the desert. This made me think about the reasons for the aggravation of the water problem of mankind. In such places, people do not have water to wash themselves. And they have to strictly save drinking water.

Causes of the water problem in the modern world

I used to think that there is a lot of water in the world, and there is enough for everyone. But now many countries are experiencing a shortage of drinking water. After all, fresh water makes up only 3% of the volume of the hydrosphere.
There are several reasons for the current shortage of fresh water.

1. The increase in the population of the Earth.
2. Urbanization. Large cities are polluted by river runoff.
3. Industrial enterprises and farmers release harmful substances into the rivers.
4. Changing of the climate. Global warming.

The population does not care about the cleanliness of fresh water.

I have watched more than once how the inhabitants of the village where my grandmother lives throw all sorts of garbage into the river. And in places where sewage is discharged in our town, swimming is not recommended.

There is still enough drinking water in our country. However, it is impossible not to notice that we have a number of problems. Drinking water, even in wells, is often contaminated with pesticides from fields that make people sick. Industrial enterprises do not clean up waste products that are discharged into rivers. All this exacerbates the water problem of mankind.

How to deal with the lack of drinking water

Fresh water is essential for people. Therefore, it is urgent to solve the water problem. I think the following can be done for this:

• impose strict fines for polluting drinking water sources;
• teach people to save water;
• master the desalination of sea water;
• find sources of water on other planets.

A person cannot drink less water. It is also needed for growing grain, vegetables and livestock. You can't save here. But, for example, it is possible to limit the watering of lawns in parks. This is how London saves water today.

You can launch special breeds of fish into the river, which purifies the water.

There are a lot of people on Earth, so we need to protect the planet's water resources and do what we can.

2) energy resources in the form of ebbs and flows are used with the help of tidal power plants (in 1967, the world's first tidal power plant was built in France). Russia also has such a power plant built in the Soviet era. The total power of the tides on the planet is estimated from 1 to 6 billion kW / h, which exceeds the energy of all the rivers of the globe. The energy of sea currents is used with the help of wave power plants;

3) biological resources - the biomass of the World Ocean includes 140 thousand species of fish, mammals, mollusks, crustaceans and plants. There are only over 1 billion tons of fish, mammals, squid, and shrimp in the ocean (World Ocean). World fish and seafood production reaches 110 million tons per year. These resources of the World Ocean are replenished by artificial breeding of fish and seafood in the amount of 30 million tons.

The transport value of the oceans is very high - it "serves" about 4-5% of all international trade. The number of large and medium-sized seaports on all seas and oceans exceeds 2.5 thousand.

The problem is the global ecological change in the waters of the World Ocean. The ocean is "sick" because 1 million tons of oil annually enters it (from accidents of tankers and drilling platforms, oil spills from contaminated ships), as well as industrial waste - heavy metals, radioactive waste in containers, etc. More than 10 thousand tourist ships throwing sewage into the sea without purification.

Ways to solve the environmental problems of the oceans:

1) a system of environmental, technical and social measures at the same time;

2) international agreements on the oceans, because the dead ocean (without fish and seafood suitable for consumption) is not needed by mankind.

Differences between the countries of the world in terms of resource base

Distinguish countries:

1) with a rich resource base;

2) with a limited resource base.

Russia, USA, China, India, Brazil, Australia are countries with a rich resource base. Japan, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Germany and others are countries with a limited resource base. Countries with a limited resource base have to spend a lot of foreign exchange on the purchase and transportation of raw materials. But, despite the limited resource base, Japan, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France have achieved a high level of economic and social development due to the use of resource-saving highly efficient technologies in industrial and economic complexes, with a large share of waste-free production. Many of the above countries buy ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal in Russia in large volumes. Japan, for example, has for many years been buying wood chips from logging operations in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, as well as cheap metal products for remelting in Russia.

Modern environmental problems. Causes of their occurrence and possible solutions

Current environmental issues include:

1) shortage of mineral resources;

2) depletion of biological resources;

3) desertification.

Over the past 30 years, as many natural resources have been used in the world as in the entire previous history of mankind.

In this regard, there was a threat of depletion and even exhaustion of resources, primarily mineral and biological. At the same time, as a result of the active economic activity of mankind, the scale of the return of waste to nature has sharply increased, which caused the threat of global pollution of the entire planet - the atmosphere, the World Ocean, the hydrosphere in general, the lithosphere (the land surface itself, including groundwater.) According to scientists, for each Every inhabitant of the planet accounts for (conditionally) 200 kg of waste per year, and the total amount is about 100 billion tons.

All of the above problems are due to the following reasons:

1) an arms race for many years in the main large countries that are members of the NATO bloc and were part of the Warsaw Pact until the 90s. XX century;

2) the growth of cities in terms of area and number in countries with a constant significant increase in the total population (China, India, etc.).

As a result of the irrational use of agricultural land, especially pastures near deserts, their area is expanding - desertification. Anthropogenic desertification has covered more than 900 million hectares - in Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia. The main cause of desertification is global warming.

Significant losses of bioresources, in particular forest resources, occur annually from fires in different countries of the world, especially in Russia.

Possible solutions to the above problems are:

1) general limitation of the arms race, which absorbs a significant amount of mineral resources;

2) introduction of resource-saving, waste-free technologies in all industries of the world;

3) the use of all inevitable waste in various economic complexes (for building materials, road construction, etc.);

4) combining the efforts of all countries of the world to solve a set of problems in terms of resources and ecology (for example, the Kyoto agreement, which limits the total amount of emissions into the atmosphere for each individual country);

5) expansion of the raw material base by attracting the resources of near space to the economic activity, as well as the withdrawal of "environmentally dirty" production facilities outside the Earth (primarily to near-Earth orbits and to the surface of the Moon).

Final control tests on the topic "World Natural Resources and the Environment"

Option I

1. Complete: the ratio between the amount of natural resources and the amount of their use is called ...

2. Exhaustible natural resources include:

a) mineral and water;

b) water and forest;

c) forest and mineral.

3. Most of the world's oil reserves are concentrated:

a) in the northern hemisphere

b) in the southern hemisphere.

4. The amount of arable land, per capita in general, in the world:

a) is increasing

b) does not change;

c) decreases.

5. Arrange the lands as their share in the area of ​​the world land fund decreases:

a) forests and shrubs;

c) meadows and pastures.

6. The main reason for the aggravation of the water problem of mankind is:

a) uneven distribution of water resources across the planet;

c) water pollution.

7. The share of fresh water in world resources:

8. The main way to solve the water problem of mankind is:

a) reducing the water intensity of production processes;

b) transportation of icebergs from Antarctica;

c) desalination of sea water.

Option II

1. Complete: the part of the earthly nature with which humanity interacts in the course of its life activity at this stage of its development is called ...

2. Exhaustible renewable resources include:

a) forest and fish;

b) fish and mineral;

c) mineral and forest.

3. Most of the world's gas reserves are concentrated:

a) in the northern hemisphere

b) in the southern hemisphere.

4. The main reason for the reduction of agricultural land in the world is:

a) soil erosion;

b) swamping, salinization;

c) desertification.

5. Arrange the lands as their share in the area of ​​the world land fund increases:

a) forests and shrubs;

b) cultivated land (arable land, orchards, plantations);

c) meadows and pastures.

6. Effective protection of soils from erosion is:

a) deforestation;

b) falling asleep of ravines and beams;

c) forest plantations.

7. The main cause of the water problem of mankind is:

a) water pollution;

b) growth in consumption with a constant volume of water resources;

c) uneven distribution of water resources across the planet.

8. Currently, of the resources of the World Ocean, the following are most intensively used:

a) water;

b) biological;

c) minerals.

Test 3
world population

Option I

Indicators of the natural movement of the population. The difference in indicators in countries with the 1st and 2nd type of population reproduction

Indicators of the natural movement of the population are the birth rate, mortality, natural increase - natural biological processes. The combination of these processes - fertility, mortality and natural increase ensures the continuous renewal and change of human generations. Population growth depends on the nature of its reproduction.

The 1st type of population reproduction is simple, it is characterized by low birth rates, mortality and natural increase. This type of reproduction prevails in the economically developed countries of Europe and North America.

Socio-economic reasons causing low birth rates:

1) a high level of socio-economic development (incomes increase in families and the number of children decreases);

2) high level of urbanization - 75%, rapid income growth (in rural areas, the birth rate is higher, in cities - lower);

3) change in the status of women, emancipation and the emergence of a new system of values;

4) an increase in the proportion of older ages - "aging of nations" (in the UK, France, Russia, etc.), a decrease in the number of young people;

5) consequences of wars and military conflicts, terrorism;

6) occupational injuries, man-made disasters - up to 250 thousand people die in road traffic accidents annually (in Europe and North America);

7) mortality from diseases (AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, etc.);

8) natural disasters (floods, earthquakes).

The narrowed type of reproduction is typical for countries with "zero" or close to it natural increase. In a number of European countries - Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Hungary, Germany, Russia, the death rate exceeds the birth rate, that is, there is a depopulation, or a demographic crisis, a decrease in the country's population.

In Russia in 1998, the birth rate was 8.6%, the death rate was 13.8%.

The 2nd type of population reproduction is extended, it is characterized by high and very high birth rates and natural increase and relatively low mortality rates (mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America).

Socio-economic reasons causing high birth rates of the population:

1) low level of economic development, the predominance of agriculture (developing countries);

2) low level of urbanization - 41% (in rural areas, the birth rate is higher);

3) a peculiar social structure, religious customs that encourage large families;

4) servitude of women, early marriages;

5) using the achievements of modern medicine to combat epidemic diseases, improving sanitary culture;

In connection with the decrease in mortality of the population and especially child mortality, the average life expectancy is growing. Back in the 19th century it was equal in Europe to only 35 years; it now averages 68–70 years in North America and Europe, 50–55 years in Latin America, 40–50 years in Asia, and less than 40 years in Africa. An increase in life expectancy leads to an increase in the proportion of the elderly population, i.e., the process of population aging occurs.

Population regulation - population policy

Demographic policy is a system of administrative, economic, propaganda and other measures by which the state regulates the population in the direction it wants, influencing the natural movement (primarily the birth rate). The demographic policy in the countries of the first type of reproduction is aimed at increasing the birth rate. Examples of countries pursuing an active demographic policy are France or Japan, which have developed economic stimulus measures such as:

1) one-time loans to newlyweds;

2) allowances for the birth of each child, monthly allowances for children;

3) paid parental leave, etc.

The demographic policy in the countries of the second type of production is aimed at reducing the birth rate. For example, in India:

1) a national family planning program has been adopted;

2) the age of marriage has been increased: for men - 21 years, for women - 18 years;

3) mass voluntary sterilization of the population is carried out;

4) there is a political motto: "We are two - we are two."

For example, in China:

1) a birth planning committee has been established;

2) a late age for marriage has been established: for men - 22 years, for women - 20 years;

3) there are monthly supplements for only one child;

4) the political motto is promoted: "One family - one child."

The largest language families in the world

The most numerous language families:

1) Indo-European - 150 peoples with a total number of 2.5 billion people (47% of the total population of the globe);

2) Sino-Tibetan - over 1 billion people (22% of the total population);

3) Afro-Asiatic - more than 250 million people (mostly speaking Arabic).

In addition, the largest language families include Austronesian (5% of the world's population), Semitic-Hamitic (4.4%), Dravidian (4%), Bantu (3%). The 5 most common languages ​​(Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian) are spoken by over 40% of all mankind.

The majority of other families are much smaller.

The peoples of Russia are classified by language as follows:

1) Indo-European family (Russians - 82%, Ukrainians - 3%, Belarusians - 1%);

2) Altai (Mongolian) - Buryats, Kalmyks;

3) Turkic - Tatars, Bashkirs;

4) Ural (Finno-Ugric) - Mordovians, Karelians;

5) Caucasian - Chechens, Ingush, etc.

In total, 130 peoples have been identified in Russia.

The most widely spoken official languages ​​in the world are:

1) English - in 80 countries of the world (in the UK, USA, Australia, India, New Zealand, etc.);

2) French (in more than 30 countries of the world);

3) Spanish (in about 20 countries).

The wide spread of these languages ​​is explained by the existence of the colonial empires of England, France and Spain over the years.

Population density in various regions of the world

The average population density of the Earth is 45 people per 1 km2. In India, the average density is 326 people per 1 km 2, China - 131, Indonesia - 116, USA - 30, Brazil - 20.

The population of the Earth is distributed extremely unevenly - about 70% of all people live on 7% of the land, undeveloped lands occupy 15% of the land. Territories with the most favorable conditions are populated very densely. For example, in some areas of East and South Asia, the density reaches from 1500 to 2000 people per 1 km 2, and in the industrial regions of Europe and the USA, the average density is from 1000 to 1500 people per 1 km 2.

The unevenness of the population of the Earth is most clearly manifested in the following comparisons: in Australia and Oceania, the average density is 2 people per 1 km 2, in foreign Europe - 97 people per 1 km 2. In Europe, the lowest population density is in Iceland (2 people per 1 km 2), the highest is in the Netherlands (365 people per 1 km 2); in Asia, the lowest population density is in Mongolia (0.8 people per 1 km 2), the highest is in Bangladesh (about 500 people per 1 km 2). The amplitude of fluctuations within individual countries is even greater (from completely uninhabited territories to 2,000 people per 1 km 2).

In Russia, the highest population density is in the Central region, in the Urals, in the Kuzbass, the lowest - in the Far North. The average population density in Russia is 0.85 people per 1 km2.

Urbanization. The main features of this process

Urbanization is the growth of cities, the increase in the share of the urban population in the country, region, world, the emergence and development of more complex systems of cities, agglomerations. Urbanization is not only a historical process of increased growth of cities and urban populations, but also a widespread urban lifestyle. Urbanization is one of the most important components of socio-economic development.

3 characteristic features of the modern process of urbanization:

1) the rapid growth of the urban population, especially in less developed countries. On average, the world's urban population is increasing by 60 million people a year;

2) the concentration of the population and economy mainly in large cities. This is characterized by the growth of production, the development of science and education, the satisfaction of the spiritual needs of people. At the beginning of the twentieth century. there were 360 ​​large cities in the world, and at the end of the twentieth century. there were about 4,000 of them. These are cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants;

3) the "spread" of cities, the expansion of their territory. Modern urbanization is especially characterized by the transition from a compact ("point") city to urban agglomerations - territorial clusters of urban and rural population around a large city (the capital, important industrial and port centers).

The impact of migration on the size and distribution of the population, its cause

Migration is the movement of people between certain territories and settlements, associated with a permanent, temporary or seasonal change of their place of residence. The main reason for migration is economic, but political, national, religious and other reasons play a significant role. The forms of migration are very diverse: every day, hundreds of millions of people participate in pendulum (shuttle) labor trips, due to the large distance between their places of residence and work; the scope of seasonal movements associated with seasonal work, trips for recreation and treatment, tourism, as well as religious pilgrimages to holy places is large. Population migration is the main reason for the most important changes that have occurred in the settlement of people on Earth over the past centuries.

There are 2 types of population migration:

1) internal migration is the movement of the population from the countryside to the city, which in many countries is the source of their growth (it is often called the “great migration of peoples of the 20th century”).

In addition, in a number of countries there is a migration of the population from small towns to large ones, due to job searches, going to study at universities, etc. This type of migration is typical for Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Brazil, Australia, China and other developing countries.

In the most developed countries, in particular in the USA, "reverse" internal migrations prevail - from cities to the suburbs, and partly to the countryside;

2) external migration - with a predominance of labor migration, which forms the international labor market. To date, the main flows of international labor migration have developed. External migration is subdivided into emigration (I am evicted) - the departure of citizens from their country to another for permanent residence or a more or less long period; and immigration (I settle) - the entry of citizens into another country for permanent residence or for a more or less long period.

Currently, there is an emigration of the population (labour force and intellectuals, brain drain) from South, Southeast and East Asia, Latin America, North Africa and Russia (departure). Immigration - to the USA, Canada, Western Europe, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Australia (entry). A special type of migration is the flow of refugees associated with internal political and interethnic conflicts: from Afghanistan, the former SFRY (Yugoslavia), Iraq, inside the former Soviet Union.

All major types of migration involve the economically active population. This inevitably leads to a deterioration in the economic and economic situation in the countries where emigration comes from (in the present and in the future), especially in Russia, where the demographic situation is critical, there is a depopulation of the main nation (titular).

Option II

Change in the population of the Earth. Population explosion

Throughout the twentieth century. there was a constant change in the population of the Earth in the direction of increase. If in 1900 the population of the whole world was 1 billion 656 million people, then in 1950 - 2 billion 527 million, and in 2000 - 6 billion 252 million. In a word, from the 2nd half of the twentieth century. rapid population growth has acquired the character of a population explosion. A significant increase in the population was in foreign Asia - from 950 million people in 1900 to 3 billion 698 million in 2000, in Africa - from 130 million in 1900 to 872 million in 2000, Latin America - from 64 million in 1900 to 540 million in 2000

The population explosion peaked in the 1970s. (average annual increase - 2%, or 20 people per 1000 inhabitants). Between 1985 and 1990 the increase was 1.7%; in 1995 - 1.5%. In other words, after 1970 population growth has steadily declined. This was due to birth planning in China and India. But the growth of the world population continues and, according to UN forecasts, in the XXI century. The world population will reach over 10 billion people. Moreover, 90% of the world's population growth occurs in developing countries.

Population explosion in the 60-70s. 20th century due to a number of reasons: firstly, the improvement of the socio-economic situation in developing countries due to the penetration of large capitalist companies from the leading countries of the world into Asia, Africa and Latin America in pursuit of cheap mineral and labor resources. At the same time, assembly plants (cars, motorcycles, household appliances) and environmentally harmful chemical production were located in developing countries. At the same time, the entire infrastructure was created with hospitals, hospitals and other institutions, including cultural centers.

The USSR and the socialist countries also pursued a policy of comprehensive assistance to developing countries, ranging from military-technical to medical and cultural (P. Lumumba University was opened in Moscow for students from developing countries).

Modern problems of water resources

The problems of clean water and the protection of aquatic ecosystems are becoming more acute as the historical development of society, the impact on nature caused by scientific and technological progress is rapidly increasing.

Already now, in many parts of the world, there are great difficulties in providing water supply and water use as a result of the qualitative and quantitative depletion of water resources, which is associated with pollution and irrational use of water.

Water pollution mainly occurs due to the discharge of industrial, domestic and agricultural waste into it. In some reservoirs, pollution is so great that they have completely degraded as sources of water supply.

A small amount of pollution cannot cause a significant deterioration in the condition of a reservoir, since it has the ability of biological purification, but the problem is that, as a rule, the amount of pollutants discharged into the water is very large and the reservoir cannot cope with their neutralization.

Water supply and water use is often complicated by biological interference: overgrowing of canals reduces their capacity, algae blooms worsen water quality, its sanitary condition, and fouling interferes with navigation and the functioning of hydraulic structures. Therefore, the development of measures with biological interference acquires great practical importance and becomes one of the most important problems in hydrobiology.

Due to the violation of the ecological balance in water bodies, there is a serious threat of a significant deterioration of the ecological situation as a whole. Therefore, mankind faces a huge task of protecting the hydrosphere and maintaining biological balance in the biosphere.

The problem of pollution of the oceans

Oil and oil products are the most common pollutants in the oceans. By the beginning of the 1980s, about 6 million tons of oil were annually entering the ocean, which accounted for 0.23% of world production. The greatest losses of oil are associated with its transportation from production areas. Emergencies, discharge of washing and ballast water overboard by tankers - all this leads to the presence of permanent pollution fields along sea routes. In the period 1962-79, about 2 million tons of oil entered the marine environment as a result of accidents. Over the past 30 years, since 1964, about 2,000 wells have been drilled in the World Ocean, of which 1,000 and 350 industrial wells have been equipped in the North Sea alone. Due to minor leaks, 0.1 million tons of oil are lost annually. Large masses of oil enter the seas along rivers, with domestic and storm drains.

The volume of pollution from this source is 2.0 million tons/year. Every year, 0.5 million tons of oil enters with industrial effluents. Getting into the marine environment, oil first spreads in the form of a film, forming layers of various thicknesses.

The oil film changes the composition of the spectrum and the intensity of light penetration into the water. Light transmission of thin films of crude oil is 1-10% (280nm), 60-70% (400nm).

A film with a thickness of 30-40 microns completely absorbs infrared radiation. When mixed with water, oil forms an emulsion of two types: direct - "oil in water" - and reverse - "water in oil". When volatile fractions are removed, oil forms viscous inverse emulsions, which can remain on the surface, be carried by the current, wash ashore and settle to the bottom.

Pesticides. Pesticides are a group of man-made substances used to control pests and plant diseases. It has been established that pesticides, destroying pests, harm many beneficial organisms and undermine the health of biocenoses. In agriculture, the problem of transition from chemical (polluting the environment) to biological (environmentally friendly) methods of pest control has long been faced. The industrial production of pesticides is accompanied by the appearance of a large number of by-products that pollute wastewater.

Heavy metals. Heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, arsenic) are common and highly toxic pollutants. They are widely used in various industrial productions, therefore, despite the treatment measures, the content of heavy metal compounds in industrial wastewater is quite high. Large masses of these compounds enter the ocean through the atmosphere. Mercury, lead and cadmium are the most dangerous for marine biocenoses. Mercury is transported to the ocean with continental runoff and through the atmosphere. During the weathering of sedimentary and igneous rocks, 3.5 thousand tons of mercury are released annually. The composition of atmospheric dust contains about 12 thousand tons of mercury, and a significant part is of anthropogenic origin. About half of the annual industrial production of this metal (910 thousand tons/year) ends up in the ocean in various ways. In areas polluted by industrial waters, the concentration of mercury in solution and suspension is greatly increased. Contamination of seafood has repeatedly led to mercury poisoning of the coastal population. Lead is a typical trace element found in all components of the environment: in rocks, soils, natural waters, the atmosphere, and living organisms. Finally, lead is actively dissipated into the environment during human activities. These are emissions from industrial and domestic effluents, from smoke and dust from industrial enterprises, from exhaust gases from internal combustion engines.

Thermal pollution. Thermal pollution of the surface of reservoirs and coastal marine areas occurs as a result of the discharge of heated wastewater from power plants and some industrial production. The discharge of heated water in many cases causes an increase in water temperature in reservoirs by 6-8 degrees Celsius. The area of ​​heated water spots in coastal areas can reach 30 square meters. km. A more stable temperature stratification prevents water exchange between the surface and bottom layers. The solubility of oxygen decreases, and its consumption increases, since with increasing temperature, the activity of aerobic bacteria that decompose organic matter increases. The species diversity of phytoplankton and the entire flora of algae is increasing.

Freshwater pollution

The water cycle, this long way of its movement, consists of several stages: evaporation, cloud formation, rainfall, runoff into streams and rivers, and again evaporation. Throughout its path, water itself is able to be cleaned of contaminants that enter it - decay products of organic substances, dissolved gases and minerals, suspended solids.

In places with a large concentration of people and animals, natural clean water is usually not enough, especially if it is used to collect sewage and transfer it away from settlements. If not much sewage enters the soil, soil organisms process them, reusing nutrients, and already clean water seeps into neighboring watercourses. But if the sewage immediately enters the water, they rot, and oxygen is consumed for their oxidation. The so-called biochemical oxygen demand is created. The higher this requirement, the less oxygen remains in the water for living microorganisms, especially for fish and algae. Sometimes, due to lack of oxygen, all living things die. Water becomes biologically dead; only anaerobic bacteria remain in it; they thrive without oxygen and in the course of their life they emit hydrogen sulfide - a poisonous gas with a specific smell of rotten eggs. The already lifeless water acquires a putrid smell and becomes completely unsuitable for humans and animals. This can also happen with an excess of substances such as nitrates and phosphates in the water; they enter the water from agricultural fertilizers in the fields or from sewage contaminated with detergents. These nutrients stimulate the growth of algae, algae begin to consume a lot of oxygen, and when it becomes insufficient, they die. Under natural conditions, the lake, before silting up and disappearing, exists for about 20 thousand years. An excess of nutrients accelerates the aging process and reduces the life of the lake. Oxygen is less soluble in warm water than in cold water. Some businesses, especially power plants, consume huge amounts of water for cooling purposes. The heated water is discharged back into the rivers and further disrupts the biological balance of the water system. Reduced oxygen content prevents the development of some living species and gives an advantage to others. But these new, heat-loving species also suffer greatly as soon as water heating stops. Organic waste, nutrients and heat interfere with the normal development of freshwater ecosystems only when they overload those systems. But in recent years, ecological systems have been bombarded with huge quantities of absolutely alien substances, from which they know no protection. Agricultural pesticides, metals and chemicals from industrial wastewater have managed to enter the aquatic food chain with unpredictable consequences. Species at the top of the food chain can accumulate these substances at dangerous levels and become even more vulnerable to other harmful effects. Polluted water can be purified. Under favorable conditions, this occurs naturally in the process of the natural water cycle. But polluted basins - rivers, lakes, etc. - take much longer to recover. In order for natural systems to be able to recover, it is necessary, first of all, to stop the further flow of waste into rivers. Industrial emissions not only clog, but also poison wastewater. In spite of everything, some municipalities and industries still prefer to dump their waste into neighboring rivers and are very reluctant to do so only when the water becomes completely unusable or even dangerous.