Principles of ensuring geosystem environmental sustainability under man-made impacts on water resources

Abstract

The paper presents long-term interdisciplinary studies aimed at developing the methodology of ecosystem water use and applying it to supervise the use of water resources for ensuring the environmental sustainability of geosystems. The proposed approaches to justify and implement ecosystem water use are based on the provisions of sustainability theory of complex systems and risk management. Risk factors are defined by some general situation and water sector challenges accumulated over the past years. The paper deals with water use issues leading to violations in the ecological stability of geosystems, including organizational and legal, environmental, economic, technical, and social. As per risk management theory, the main methods of risk management are informational, organizational, regulatory, economic, engineering and technical. Based on theoretical provisions, improved principles of ecologically safe functioning of geosystems during water use are as follows: ecosystem services imply restoration and preservation of the functional and structural integrity of drainage basins, landscapes, water bodies; environmental friendliness implies compliance of water management activities with environmental requirements and restrictions; protection of water bodies prioritized over their use; utilization of water bodies for drinking and domestic water supply prioritized over other purposes of water use; equilibrium implies compliance with the balance of use and reproduction of water resources; optimality of technical and technological solutions. To assess the ecological state of geosystems and man-made impacts, it is necessary to control indicators, which provides a sound basis for the analysis and ongoing management of the environmental situation. An integral index for irrigated land is the hydrothermal coefficient otherwise referred to as radiation dryness index. Strengthening water supply involves improving water conservation, constructing and reconstructing irrigation systems, promoting innovative irrigation technologies; putting into service efficient water, primarily, drinking water treatment plants, drainage and effluent treatment, water accounting systems.