LOW FLOW ON THE RIVERS OF THE EUROPEAN PART OF RUSSIA AND ITS HAZARDS

Abstract

This paper reviews the changes in river flow of the European part of Russia during the low-flow period, characterizing groundwater flow feeding. River flow oscillations were analyzed for winter and summer periods. Statistical analyses of average low flow and the minimum monthly summer and winter discharges for 1946–1977 and 1978–2010 showed significant positive trends for all parameters of low-water period. The greatest increase is observed in the Middle Volga, where low flow has almost doubled.The low flow discharges increased by up to 50–70 % in the center of the European part of Russia and the Upper Don and its tributaries, ranging from 0 to 30 % for the northern rivers. Despite the low flow increase, the lack of water in 2010 and 2014 caused economic damage. It is shown that the observed hydrological hazards occur as a result of snow melt draughts and water management instability.

Keywords

• low flow
• lack of water
• climate change
• extreme hydrological events