Solution Options for Problems of Navigation on a Limited Section of the Volga River from Gorodetsky Hydroelectric Complex to Nizhny Novgorod, Including Taking Into Account the Assessment of the Impact on the Sanitary-Epidemiological and Environmental Situation in the Region

The paper proposes a variant of choosing the optimal solution to the large-scale scientific, technical and ecological-economic problem of the European part of the Russian Federation based on the integrated use of results of numerical modeling of hydrodynamic processes, expert environmental assessments and rating economic comparison.The object of scientific research is the section of the Volga River from the Gorodetsky hydroelectric complex to Nizhny Novgorod (from 852.5 to 899 km along the ship’s course). The purpose of the work is to prepare proposals for the choice of an option for improving navigation conditions on the Volga River section under consideration in the lower reaches of the Gorodetsky locks under various flow regimes through the Gorodetsky hydroelectric complex, taking into account the priorities of environmental protection, protection of water bodies and use of water resources established by legislation. As a result of the work, a variant of the project proposed for implementation on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region for the rational solution of navigation problems on the Volga River, taking into account the assessment of the impact on the sanitary-epidemiological and environmental situation in the region, flooding and flooding zones. The project includes the construction of a third parallel lock in the area of Gorodetsky locks No. 15–16 and the creation of a navigable slot with a guaranteed fairway depth of 4.0 m.