Water uses in the Basin

3.2.10  Water uses in the Basin

In terms of the territorial distribution of water resources, the Dnipro Basin features two major zones. The first is the flow formation zone located within the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, characterised by very low water consumption. The second is the flow transit zone starting downstream of Kyiv and extending throughout the Ukrainian part of the Basin which has minor side flow inputs and a high water demand.

The Dnipro is a vital water artery for the economies and populations of the three nations. Table 3.9 gives statistical data on water consumption in the Dnipro Basin in 1999. The total volume of water abstraction in the Dnipro Basin was 13.4 km³. This can be broken down by country as follows: 6% in the Russian Federation, 8% in the Republic of Belarus, and 86% in Ukraine.

The Russian part of the Dnipro Basin has the best-developed water reuse/recycling schemes in the Federation (96%, as opposed to the country average of 77%). The total annual volume of water reuse/recycling in 1995 was 7.8 km³ and 7.5 km³ in 2000.

In the Belorussian part of the Dnipro Basin, groundwater sources accounted for more than 50% of the total volume of abstracted water in 2000. Groundwater is used to provide domestic and drinking water to both the urban and rural population, and to meet the demand of food and light industries. In total, there are over 30,000 artesian boreholes and 40,000 wells in Belarus.

Figure 3.9 National demand for water (%) from the Dnipro Basin in Ukraine (by sector). Agricultural sector demand supplies 85% of water for irrigation.

Table 3.9 Water consumption in the Dnipro Basin (million m3), 1999

Ukraine is by far the largest water user in the Basin with the Dnipro covering about 60% of the national demand for freshwater (a breakdown by sector is shown in Figure 3.9). In 2000, there were 7,900 officially registered water users within the Ukrainian part of the Basin and total water use was reported to be 36 billion m³. Water is drawn from surface water bodies (26%), groundwater sources (3%), and water reuse/recycling (71%). Non-returnable (consumptive) water uses account for 45% of the total water abstraction. Of that, 3.7 billion m³ was abstracted from the main stem of the Dnipro itself.

About 30% of the total abstracted volume is supplied to arid areas of the Basin via water diversion channels (Table 3.10). In Belarus, 0.04-0.06 km³/year is diverted annually via the Dnipro-Bug Channel.

Agriculture appears to be the most intensive water user, being responsible for 69% of the total non-returnable water consumption in the Basin. A large proportion of this abstracted water is supplied to irrigation systems (Figure 3.9). Seasonally, about 56% of the total annual water abstraction occurs between May and August, attributed to intensive irrigation of arable farmland downstream of the Dniprovsky hydropower dam.

In 2000, the industry sector accounted for 54.8% of the total water consumption in the Ukrainian part of the Basin, followed by domestic/drinking water supply (about 21%). Overall water consumption is reported to have decreased by 52% when compared to the 1990 level, although polluted effluent discharges remain high.

Table 3.10  Major diversion channels in the Ukrainian part of the Dnipro Basin

The Lower Dnipro (from the Dniprodzerzhinsky hydropower dam to the estuary) has been severely affected by extremely high anthropogenic pressures. This is illustrated by the fact that this part of the Basin accounts for 76%, of the total non-returnable water consumption in the Basin. The major contributors to non-returnable water losses are the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (12%), the Kherson Oblast (23%), and the flow diversion channels described above (Table 3.9). Industrial facilities concentrated in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts are the major sources of water pollution, accounting for 75% of the total polluted effluent discharge. The major pollution sources in the Ukrainian part of the Basin are ferrous metallurgy industries (35%) and municipal water utilities (47%).

Next: Ecological Status of the Basin

Previous: Water-borne diseases