Simulation of Heavy Metal Pollution of Watercourses in the Basin of the Nizhnekamskoe Reservoir

Abstract

The physically based ECOMAG-HM model, developed to simulate heavy metal cycles in large river basins, was used to study the spatial and temporal regularities in the formation of copper and zinc distributions in water bodies in the basin of the Nizhnekamskoe Reservoir. Maps of the mean annual concentrations of the metals in river network and the mean annual modules of diffuse runoff with its genetic components have been compiled. The contributions of point and diffuse sources to river water pollution by copper and zinc have been evaluated. To specify the estimates of the effect of economic activity on river water pollution, numerical experiments have been carried out to simulate the scenarios of an increase in the amount of metals discharged as wastewater components, wastewater emergency volleys, and complete elimination of anthropogenic impact on a drainage basin.