Current changes in river water regime in the Don River Basin

The formation and distribution of present-day water resources under the effect of changing climate are studied. Seasonal, annual, and many-year variations in the regime of spring-flood and dry-season runoff of rivers with drainage areas from 2000 to 20000 km², reflecting the zonal landscape-climatic conditions of runoff formation, are considered. It is shown that various and often contradictory demands of water users to water supply distribution over seasons of the year result in that the entire water management complex depends on not only the total volume of water resources, but also on the water regime characteristics of rivers in different phases of hydrological year. It was established that the climate changes recorded in the recent decades radically change the pattern of space and time variations in runoff characteristics.