Territorial features of the water-resource potential of Kyiv region

Abstract

Introduction. Water is the most important resource in human life because the birth and further development of living organisms take place in water. Ancient tribes se???? led close to rivers or other reservoirs where over time there were cities that later became the cradle of entire civilizations. Many civilizations had access to the sea, and that gave them endless opportunities in navigation and development of colonialism.
Water-resource potential of the territory is an important indicator that has infl uenced the development of human civilization for millennia. Water resources of a territory have always had a huge impact on the development of a nation, as well as its mentality and culture.
The territory of Kyiv region at one time was the cradle of the origin of our people and our culture. Kyiv was built on the slopes of the Dnieper River. Thanks to the great river, in the XI century the city became unprecedented for Europe at that time. The rivers were a source of drinking water, transport routes, protection against nomads and a place to catch fi sh. Over the years, the great importance of the rivers has not diminished, and now the water resources of the region are used no less, but even several times more than at the beginning of civilization.
Studying the water-resource potential of Kyiv region is important, as water is involved in all spheres of people’s lives and more detailed study of it can give more accurate information about the amount of water resources and possibilities of their use.

The purpose of this article is a comprehensive assessment and territorial features of the water-resource potential of Kyiv region for the purpose of rational water use and water consumption.
Contribution of the main research material. Water resources of the area consist of surface and groundwater. There are 1523 rivers in the region, three of them are large (the Dnipro, Desna, Prypyat), eight are medium (the Uzh, Teteriv, Irpin, Ros, Trubizh, Supiy, Rotny Orzhitsa and Rotny Tikіch), others are small rivers with streams. In Kyiv region there are 750 small area lakes. The location of the lakes has a pattern: most lakes are in the north and east. 58 reservoirs and 2389 ponds have been made in the region (total water volume is 462.5 million m3). 17 reservoirs out of such a large number are in poor condition. The largest number of reservoirs is located on the river Ros. There is no any other river in the region that has such a big number of reservoirs. That is related to the peculiarities of the territory and the needs of the people in that area. Rivers are the main suppliers of drinking water in Kyiv region. An integral component of water resources is rivers runoff, which is used for the needs of industry, power engineering, agriculture, transport and household.
The volume of the rivers runoff in Kyiv region is considerable, although it still has different values in the districts of the region. The largest runoff volume is in the Kagarlyk and Ivankiv districts, and the lowest is Boryspil, Borodyanka, Vasylkiv and Myronivsk districts of Kyiv region. The formation of runoff is influenced by various factors, such as the area of the district (Ivankiv district is the largest in the region), presence of rivers and their sizes. Generally, areas with access to the banks of the Dnieper River have no water scarcity.
An important part of the water resources is the groundwater represented in the region by the Dnieper-Donetsk artesian basin. Groundwater is distributed unevenly within the region, thus, there are more reserves in the northern districts than in the southern ones. However, the depth of the deposit, which increases in the north-east directions towards the sinking of the crystalline rocks, plays a significant role there. The peculiarity of the region is a big difference between the forecasted and approved groundwater reserves.
Most of the forecasted resources are concentrated within Vyshhorod district (219.9 million m3 / year), although, the approved ones are only 3.5 million m3 / year, which is a very small indicator. That means that in Vyshhorod district are approved only 2% of the forecasted resources, which is the lowest number in the region. The highest indicator of approved exploited reserves is in Kagarlyk district (100% to the forecasted ones). The forecasted resources are 3.2 million m3 / year, and the approved ones are 3.175 million m3 / year. Vasylkiv, Makariv, Myronivsk, Obukhiv, Poliske and Stavishchansk districts of Kyiv region have also a significant percentage of approved resources. In Zguriv district, groundwater is not commissioned at all.
In terms of water resources, the region has enough surface and groundwater resources: in low-water year 95% of supply there is 996.5 thousand m3 of total and 26.4 thousand m3 of local surface water resources per 1 sq.km, and per one inhabitant - 6.48 and 0.18 thousand m3, respectively. Water supply of the territory and population is almost 6-11 times larger and by local resources - 1.2-2.2 times less than on average in Ukraine.
Conclusions. Therefore, in most cases the population of cities, districts and industrial sites of the region are concentrated in areas of low water supply. In addition, distribution of rivers runoff is uneven throughout the year and when its use (in summer) increases, it has little value, which may limit further development of water-intensive industries. Distribution of water and resource potential across the region is uneven and varies from 34.78 million m3 (Boryspil district) to 785.36 million m3 (Kagarlyk district). Groundwater is a source of the region’s water resources.