Water resources of Ukraine: assessment based on the FAO AQUASTAT database

Abstract

Summary The purpose of the study is assess the water resources of Ukraine for the first time on the basis of the database of the international organization of the United Nations (FAO), which integrates information on water resources in all countries of the world. In this study, statistically processed materials of the global information system FAO AQUASTAT for the period 1988–2017 were used. The following results were obtained for Ukraine: internal renewable water resources are - 55.1 km3; total renewable water resources - 175.3 km3. In terms of total renewable water resources per person (3964 m3/year/person), as of 2017, Ukraine ranked 27th among 50 European countries. In terms of internal renewable water resources per person (1246 m3/year/person), Ukraine ranked 37th in Europe. Almost all figures for individual components of water resources in Ukraine, which are given in FAO AQUASTAT, differ to a certain extent from those in Ukrainian publications. This methodological problem should be paid special attention to by Ukrainian specialists.