ESTIMATION OF ANTHROPOGENIC LOAD ON THE VESELUKHA SMALL RIVER BASIN

Abstract

Relevance of research. As a result of economic activities and irrational use of water and land resources in small river basins there are problems connected with pollution, destruction of natural landscape complexes of river valleys and adjoining territories, engineering reorganization of canals and floodplains as a result of melioration works. All these changes in river basins require operational control and response, which is possible only if real estimation of the level of anthropogenic load on river basins is carried out and the limits of permissible economic interference in their ecosystem are determined. The purpose of research – assessment of the ecological condition of the basin of the Veselukha River by the criteria of anthropogenic load. Research methods. The analysis of anthropogenic load and evaluation of the ecological condition of the Veselukha River basin was carried out in accordance with "Methodology for calculation of anthropogenic load and classification of the ecological state of small river basins of Ukraine". The calculation was made using the logic-mathematical model "Small River Basin", for four independent models of the main subsystems of the river basin: radioactive contamination of the territory, land use, use of river runoff, water quality. The quantitative and qualitative anthropogenic conditions by various indicators of four subsystems for classification of the ecological state of the river basin were estimated. Research results. According to the state of radioactive contamination, the area of the river catchment was estimated as "satisfactory". Based on the results of the analysis, the integrated value of land use was 3.7 and the state of the subsystem "Use of land" in the basin of the Veselukha river was determined as "good". The general state of river runoff use in the basin based on the joint effect of all these indicators of anthropogenic load on the state of the subsystem "Use of river runoff" was evaluated as "good" with a quantitative value of 3.0. The general condition of the subsystem "Water Quality" in the basin of the Veselukha River is characterized by the IV class of water quality, it corresponds to "polluted", with a quantitative level of -1. According to the results of the integrated assessment of all subsystems of the river basin, an induction coefficient of anthropogenic load (ICAN) was specified as is -1.0 and classifies the ecological state of the Veselukha River basin as "minor changes".