Recent changes in Soviet water management: turnabout of the “Project of the Century”

Review of the history of Soviet water management indicates that the recently abolished N to S river transfer program would only be marginally helpful in hydroenergy production, river navigation, estuarine fishery, and stabilization of water levels in the Caspian and Aral seas, but would be significantly harmful to the ecology of the N parts of the USSR. Widely criticized mismanagement of coutrywide irrigation will only be exacerbated by water deversions. After Gorbachov's ascension, Soviet water management reached a pivotal point. Further expansion of water-wasteful irrigation will be drastically curtailed. A new comprehensive land reclamation programm will be initiated in order to boost farm production without additional interbasin water transfers. This program will basically consist of complex measures of forestation and land cultivations, soul erosion prevention, improvement of water delivery systems to the cropland, strict water rationing during irrigation, water conservation by efficient treatment, and reuse of collected drainage water. It is not yet clear how the Soviet planners intend to alleviate water shortages in Central Asia and prevent the shrinkage of the Aral Sea.Research for this Paper was completed under a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center and prepared for presentation at a colloquium, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian, April 14, 1987. This paper cannot be copied without the consent and permission of the author.     

Natural resources as national fantasies

The development of agriculture is recognised to be an essential preliminary and on-going element in the economic development strategies of most developing countries. The contribution of agricultural production to gross domestic product, food self-sufficiency and export income are amongst the major development goals exercising the governments of such countries. In addition, in many countries the agricultural sector is regarded as one with a potential for generating a surplus to sustain other economic activities and to have an important stabilising role in reducing the movement of population from rural areas. This article discusses renewable natural resources, soil and water, as the basis for agricultural development and especially of irrigated farming. A number of case studies will be referred to which illustrate the idea that many national governments attribute quite unreal qualities to soil and water resources. Once development schemes were launched appropriate rhetoric was mobilised to invest the reclamation of ‘virgin lands’ and ‘new lands’, with the character of ‘green revolutions’. These ventures have been sustained not because of their success but because the ‘fantasies’ have been circulated amongst ill-formed urban populations, remote from the arduous realities of land reclamation. Case studies in the Soviet Union and the Middle East are discussed.     

Groundwater resources of Uzbekistan: an environmental and operational overview

As a result of the massive irrigation development during the Soviet Union era and intensive chemization of agriculture, the surface runoff quality has been degraded in this arid and endorheic region. Moreover hydraulically related groundwater has also been affected. Excessive irrigation has lead to land salinization, which now threatens the soil quality of significant areas where crop yields would be at risk in the future. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, institutional changes have been undertaken for the management of natural resources and water infrastructure. At present, underdeveloped and inadequate systems have been practiced with respect to groundwater use and management. This paper analyzes the present extent of groundwater resources with consideration to their reserves, quality evolution, and to technical, institutional and transboundary management practices in Uzbekistan.     

敦煌月牙泉湖水位持续下降原因及对策分析

在分析月牙泉湖水文地质条件的基础上，依据实际调查资料和前人研究成果，定量分析了月牙泉湖水位持续下降的原因，认为地表水开采量的不断增加和水资源利用率的不断提高所引起的区域性地下水位持续下降是月牙泉湖水位下降的主要原因，超采地下水所引起的储存资源的减少是导致月牙泉湖地下水位下降的次要原因。遏止月牙泉湖水位继续下降并逐步回升的关键是增加湖区上游地下水的补给量和减少党河灌区开采量，为此提出了农业节水和引哈济党二种治理方案，但就月牙泉湖水位恢复速度和时间及取得的社会、生态及经济效益而言，引哈济党方案优先。     

Groundwater pricing for farms and water user association sustainability

Tunisia has invested heavily in irrigation schemes to secure water supply. The management of irrigation systems has been denied to local water user associations (WUA). These WUAs are assimilated to a natural monopoly. They sell water to farmers at the unit operational cost (marginal production cost). Such a price does not allow for budgetary balance, which leads to a chronic deficit of these WUA. It also does not reflect the scarcity of the resource, a situation that contributed to irrigated area expansion, an increase in the agricultural water demand, and misallocation of the resource. Low cost recovery results in poor maintenance, infrastructure deterioration, and water distribution inefficiency. The purpose of this paper is two folds: (i) to propose an alternative price scheme which ensures cost recovery and water use efficiency and (ii) to examine the impact of this new price on the farms’ surplus. To achieve this goal, we assumed that irrigation’s water price increase will be necessary. A field survey of 75 farmers in the center of Tunisia was conducted to estimate the irrigation water demand function. We also used the data collected on 36 WUAs in the region to estimate the irrigation water production cost function using the OLS method for both demand and cost functions, and the peak and the non-peak irrigated demand functions (i.e., summer and winter). The methodology consisted of maximizing social surplus to derive optimal prices for both seasons. The main results show that an increase in price in the range of 11 to 15 % in the winter and 50 to 75 % in the summer results in 11 % decrease of the annual quantity consumed and in a 2 % increase in the social surplus.     

Urban integration of Israeli immigrants in the 1990s: a comparison of Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon, Kiriat Gat

As a result of the opening of the borders of the former Soviet Union, Israel has been the destination of numerous immigrants. This article deals with the impact of immigration between 1989 and 1994, upon three towns in the south of Israel, Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon and Kiriat Gat. These towns correspond to three socio-economic levels of urban area in the southern region. On the one hand, the immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrive with specific demands, on the other hand the political, economical and social context in Israel is very unusual. The sucessful integration of immigrants and the constructive development of the host country depend on the conformity of these demands and proposals. What the government offers in terms of housing, reception and employment in each of the three towns plays a key role: the town's social and economical heritage influences the integration of the new population while at the same time the arrival of a new workforce influences the development of the local area. Every town wants to grow and reinforce its position in the region, but only the large town, Be'er Sheva, is able to offer a certain diversity and therefore answers more fully the needs and wants of this new population. Government decisions and policies are not made to oppose the liberal economic system and to suppress the spacial inequalities despite some measures aiming at a more equal balance. The importance of heritage and the lack of communal development schemes within regions together ensure the continuation of qualitative inegalities in the south of Israel and even accentuate the problem. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

大型灌区陆地水循环模式的参数化方案:LWCMPS_ID

地表水系统、地下水系统和土壤植物大气连续体的强烈耦合作用是大型灌区水文过程的基本特点,这导致对大型灌区的陆地水循环和水资源进行评价必须采取综合的方法,然而目前还缺少适用的模拟工具。农业灌区的水文特征与天然流域存在显著差别,常规流域水文模型和陆面过程参数化方案用于大型灌区陆地水循环的分析还存在较大的困难。LWCMPS_ID是本文提出的一个适用于大型灌区陆地水循环模式的参数化方案,采用分块集中参数模型简明地实现了地表水、地下水和土壤水的动力学耦合分析,并且包含了一个土壤水冻结融化的简化模型。对处在黄河流域的内蒙古河套灌区,用LWCMPS_ID进行20 年水文动态的模拟,取得了较好的效果。     

Surface water and groundwater dynamic interaction models as guiding tools for optimal conjunctive water use policies in the central plain of Thailand

Many irrigation projects in the central plain of Thailand are not capable of providing sufficient surface water for the cultivation of rice, which is the major cash crop for Thai farmers. To overcome this surface water deficiency, which has been exacerbated in recent years by climate change, groundwater is increasingly being used for irrigation. Thus, large sections of agriculture lands have been converted to conjunctive water use regions. While conjunctive water use may be a suitable option to overcome the temporary water shortages on a short-term basis, it may pose a particular threat to the overall water resources in the long term, if not properly managed. As a remedy, conjunctive water management policies ought to be adopted. Conjunctive water management is basically a tool to optimize productivity, equity, and environmental sustainability through simultaneous management of surface water and groundwater resources. As of now, such a comprehensive approach has not been yet employed in the upper Chao Phraya basin of Thailand, and the present study is one of the first of this kind. The study region is the Plaichumpol Irrigation Project (PIP) where conjunctive water use has become indispensable for meeting the increasing water requirements for farming. To get a first grip on the issue, water demand, supply and actual use in the study area were investigated for the purpose of providing possible guidelines for optimal water exploitation. A numerical groundwater model with a special module for simulating surface-groundwater interaction was applied in the PIP area to understand the impact of the farmer’s irrigation behavior on the dominant hydrological processes that determine the seasonal and multi-annual water availability in the irrigation area. A set-up of different agricultural water allocation schemes that depend on the local weather conditions and the regional management rules are examined by the numerical models. The results of the simulations provide adaptation guidelines for the proper management of the conjunctive water resources, namely, optimal water utilization. The numerical results for the surface groundwater in particular indicated that while the irrigation canals recharge water to the aquifer during both dry and wet season, small amounts of discharge from the aquifers to the canals occur only during the wet season. The analysis of the groundwater balance also showed that the present available groundwater potential is not fully exploited by the farmers, especially during the dry periods of surface water shortage. In contrast, the adoption of an optimal conjunctive management scheme would ensure extra water availability for additional annual rice crops in the region.     

Agriculture in Eastern Europe: Communism, the transition and the future

The paper summarises the East European experience with socialist agriculture and notes that while production often failed to meet plan targets (thereby giving the impression of a sector in crisis), there was steady growth based on substantial investments in buildings, machinery, fertilisers and irrigation systems which provided food for the population at affordable prices. The increased spending power of higher salaries during the 1970s and 1980s also drew a positive response from agriculture in the context of significant reforms which, unintentionally, contributed to the demise of the communist system in 1988–1990. Transition to a market economy has cast agriculture into a state of great uncertainty through restitution and the end of price controls, combined with the disruption of trade contacts with the Former Soviet Union. Falling real wages have reduced demand while the overtures being made to the European Union (with its substantial food surpluses) suggest that reduced agricultural output may be a permanent reality. In this case the thrust of rural development will have to give more attention to the quality of the environment and the provision of alternative employments for country dwellers. It remains to be seen how far small family holdings can be maintained in the context of farm diversification and pluriactivity.     

Impact of the unpredictable changes in agricultural groundwater use on long-term sustainable exploitation: the case study of Bouhefna-Haffouz aquifer system,central Tunisia

Long-term exploitation schemes in many regions are often based solely on hydrodynamic factors, while the agricultural use of groundwater undergoes significant changes over time. The Bouhefna-Haffouz aquifer system in central Tunisia is one of those cases where an aquifer exploitation scheme was well designed hydrodynamically to address the political needs at the time. Fifty years later, a numerical groundwater model has been conducted to assess the sustainability of the scheme. Results show that the scheme aimed to lower the groundwater level to reduce overflow to Merguellil Wadi and maintain it at a level that benefits agricultural profitability. This caused loss of the Merguellil baseflow, forcing farmers to switch from traditional irrigation canals to deep wells and motor pumps, thereby disrupting the hydrological budget even further. The numerical model indicates that the flow to the wadi reached zero in 1978, the average flow by vertical leakage decreased from 8 hm³ in 1970 to 2 hm³ in 2020, and the horizontal percolation between the regional aquifer units increased from 1 hm³ in 1970 to 6 hm³ in 2020. Although the groundwater exploitation scheme was not previously considered a factor in local hydrological changes, the results of this study demonstrate the significant impact of societal behavior following the scheme’s implementation on the hydrological budget of Merguellil Wadi.

     

Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.     

Chemical character of return irrigation water in tropical volcanic islands

Unequivocal identification of irrigation return water through routine chemical analyses does not appear possible in tropical volcanic islands. Several constituents, nevertheless, will suggest an agricultural source if they are present in large concentrations. Nitrate is the most useful indicator; background concentrations are generally less than 2 ppm but return irrigation water will commonly have concentrations of between 5 and 50 ppm. Sulfate appears to be the next most useful indicator. Calcium, silica, and bicarbonate have also been reported to be significant. Where detailed studies have been made of agricultural water balances, regional ground-water flow directions, and deep-well hydraulics, hydrochemistry can provide critical supporting data for the identification of return irrigation water which could be a potential ground-water pollutant.     

Ontario’s Environmental Farm Plan: Evaluation and research agenda

This paper analyses the operation of the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) scheme in Ontario, Canada, a voluntary agri-environment scheme established in 1993. Previously unpublished data and interviews with farmers, leaders of farmers’ organisations and government officials are used to detail participation rates, geographical spread and method of operation. Largely developed by farmers’ organisations, the scheme has focused on soil management, water quality and storage/disposal of agricultural wastes. The environmental actions associated with these activities are discussed, revealing both successes and limitations. Distinctions are drawn with agri-environmental schemes in the European Union, and a broader context for the EFP is provided with respect to the proposed post-productivist transition of agri-food systems and the need to examine the way these systems are regulated. A need for further systematic research is proposed, specifically with respect to barriers to participation, the voluntary nature of the scheme, financial incentives and the resultant environmental impacts.     

Effects of wastewater stabilization pond effluent on agricultural crops

Wastewater reclamation and reuse is one of the best alternatives for compensating water shortages. Water supply and environmental conservation can be met through wastewater reclamation. Principally, treated wastewater is a reliable water resource, especially for periodic droughts and in arid areas. This study designed and implemented to investigate the full scale application of effluent for irrigation use. A major objective of this study is to assess on health effects and feasibility of crop irrigation by using stabilization ponds effluent of southern Hovaizeh Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Khuzestan Province. Two experimental plots of about 0.5 ha. were constructed. One of the plots irrigated by stabilization pond effluent and the other irrigated by Nisan River water. Basic parameters in two plots such as type of cultivated crops, amount of fertilizer use and lack of soil contamination have been similar in both. The only difference was the type of water applied for irrigation of agricultural crops. It was shown that high salinity of soil reduced the growth rate of agricultural crops. So, removing salinity from area should be performed before cultivation. Results gained on agricultural crops growth in two studied plots showed the growth rate and quality of crops were increased by using of stabilization pond effluent in comparison with Nissan River water.     

水资源合理配置与生态环境保护方案 ——以疏勒河流域昌马、双塔、花海灌区为例

疏勒河流域是河西走廊开发利用程度最低的地区，也是甘肃省农业开发和移民的重点地区。随着移民范围和开发程度的迅速增大，水资源利用程度随之提高，水资源分布格局及地下水流场发生了重大改变，从而可能引发一系列生态环境问题。本文针对疏勒河流域移民及农业开发集中的昌马、双塔、花海灌区水资源配置问题，通过优化比较提出了最佳配置方案。     

中国生态系统研究网络水体pH和矿化度监测数据初步分析

介绍了中国生态系统研究网络(CERN)陆地生态系统水环境监测指标与频率。初步分析了CERN 31个典型陆地生态系统监测地表水和地下水、6个湖泊和海湾生态系统、1个城市生态系统地下水体pH、矿化度(电导率)状况。结果表明,我国森林生态系统pH和矿化度分布规律基本一致,为从西向东、从北向南逐渐降低的趋势,pH在鼎湖山自然保护区出现强酸性(4.15),其他台站为弱碱性、中性或弱酸性(6.01~8.26),森林生态系统矿化度均较低(33~322 mg/L)。我国农田、荒漠、湿地生态系统水体pH和矿化度分布规律为:华北与黄土农业区、西北绿洲农业与牧业区相对较高,东北农业区和青藏高原农牧区其次,南方农业区最低;除南方农业生态系统与北方三江湿地生态系统水体pH为弱酸性(6.27~6.82)外,其他监测水体均为中性和弱碱性,500 mg/L以上矿化度水体主要出现在西北部荒漠生态系统,黄河冲积平原农业生态系统。湖泊、海湾生态系统水体和北京城市生态系统地下水pH均为弱碱性,海湾水体pH季节波动不明显,湖泊水体和北京城市地下水pH和电导率呈明显季节波动,湖泊水体pH表现为夏秋季节较高,电导率表现为6~9月较低;北京城市地下水pH为...     

Water availability and land subsidence in the Central Valley,California, USA

The Central Valley in California (USA) covers about 52,000 km² and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage to meet irrigation water demand. Because the valley is semi-arid and surface-water availability varies substantially, agriculture relies heavily on local groundwater. In the southern two thirds of the valley, the San Joaquin Valley, historic and recent groundwater pumpage has caused significant and extensive drawdowns, aquifer-system compaction and subsidence. During recent drought periods (2007–2009 and 2012-present), groundwater pumping has increased owing to a combination of decreased surface-water availability and land-use changes. Declining groundwater levels, approaching or surpassing historical low levels, have caused accelerated and renewed compaction and subsidence that likely is mostly permanent. The subsidence has caused operational, maintenance, and construction-design problems for water-delivery and flood-control canals in the San Joaquin Valley. Planning for the effects of continued subsidence in the area is important for water agencies. As land use, managed aquifer recharge, and surface-water availability continue to vary, long-term groundwater-level and subsidence monitoring and modelling are critical to understanding the dynamics of historical and continued groundwater use resulting in additional water-level and groundwater storage declines, and associated subsidence. Modeling tools such as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model, can be used in the evaluation of management strategies to mitigate adverse impacts due to subsidence while also optimizing water availability. This knowledge will be critical for successful implementation of recent legislation aimed toward sustainable groundwater use.     

Impact of climate change on irrigation requirements in terms of groundwater resources

Climate change affects not only water resources but also water demand for irrigation. A large proportion of the world’s agriculture depends on groundwater, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In several regions, aquifer resources face depletion. Groundwater recharge has been viewed as a by-product of irrigation return flow, and with climate change, aquifer storage of such flow will be vital. A general review, for a broad-based audience, is given of work on global warming and groundwater resources, summarizing the methods used to analyze the climate change scenarios and the influence of these predicted changes on groundwater resources around the world (especially the impact on regional groundwater resources and irrigation requirements). Future challenges of adapting to climate change are also discussed. Such challenges include water-resources depletion, increasing irrigation demand, reduced crop yield, and groundwater salinization. The adaptation to and mitigation of these effects is also reported, including useful information for water-resources managers and the development of sustainable groundwater irrigation methods. Rescheduling irrigation according to the season, coordinating the groundwater resources and irrigation demand, developing more accurate and complete modeling prediction methods, and managing the irrigation facilities in different ways would all be considered, based on the particular cases.     

李四光和卡尔宾斯基金质奖章

中国地质学家李四光与当时苏联地学界来往交流紧密,他对地质学的贡献得到了苏联地质学家的高度评价。1958年,苏联科学院全体大会选举李四光为苏联科学院院士,并授予卡尔宾斯基金质奖章;该奖章是1947年由当时的苏联科学院和俄罗斯科学院共同发起的、对地质科学有突出贡献的科学家最高单人奖励,李四光是第六位获奖人,也是至2017年止唯一获此殊荣的外籍地质学家,他的获奖理由是:在地质、古生物、地层和矿产研究工作的综合贡献。李四光有两部著作在苏联被译成俄文出版,分别是1952年的《中国地质学》和1958年的《中国西北部的旋卷构造》,这两部译作对当时的苏联地质界产生了很大影响,极大地推动了李四光学术思想的广泛认知;"地质无国界",中国地调百年的发展历程也有着俄罗斯地学理论、规范、方法实践的烙印,在新的"一带一路"合作倡议和李四光学术精神传承下,中俄、中国与中亚在地学领域的交流合作将不断深化,硕果累累。