JPRS 71797

1 September 19 78

WORLD

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 178

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TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, No. 178

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JPRS 71797

1 September 19 78

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 178

CONTENTS PAGE

ASIA

INDIA

•Acidic Mist1Over City Alarms Calcutta

(THE STATESMAN, 31 Jul 78) • 1

EASTERN EUROPE

BULGARIA

Water Purification Plants Work Unsatisfactorily

(Georgi Pavlov; OTECHESTVEN FROMT, 21 Jul 78) 2

LATIN AMERICA

URUGUAY

Environmental Measures Subject of Controls, Legislation

(Various sources, 1, 9, 23 Jul 78) 7

Rigid Sanitation Controls, by J.J. Rodriguez Gordon

Sanitation Rates, Property Cleanness

Salto Hosts Environment Seminar, by Alberto

Rodriguez Diaz

French Engineer Evaluates Seriousness of Erosion

(Daniel Goman; EL DIA, 1 Jul 78) 13

Heavy Rains Call for Evacuations, Alert

(Various sources, various dates) 15

Itapebi Arroyo Overflows, by Wilfredo Paiva

Mercedes, Durazno Evacuate 113

Mercedes Records 30 More, by Ricardo Hole Llaguno

Yi River: Slow Abatement, by Jesus Carlos Correa

More Rain Causes Alert

- a - [III - INT - 139]
CONTENTS (Continued) Page

Concern for Water Includes Expansion, Shortage Fear

(Various sources, 28, 29, 31 Jul 78) 20

Drinking Water Expansion, by Carlos Alvarez

Possible Drinking Water Shortage

Water: A Public Interest

Many Aspects To Consider in Rivera Forestation

(Jose Luis Vera; EL DIA, 25 Jul 78) • 22

NEAR EAST & NORTH AFRICA

INTER-ARAB AFFAIRS

Conflict Between Man, Environment in Middle East Explored

(EVENTS, 11 Aug 78) 2k

SHB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ETHIOPIA

Details on Reforestation Project Given

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, k, 5, 8 Aug 78) 29

Safeguards for Forests

Reforestation in Adeola

Swedish Ambassador Praises Efforts

' USSR

Problems of the River 0m'

(ZEMLYA SIBIRSKAYA, DAL'NEVOSTOCRNAYA, Jan, Feb,

Mar 78) 33

Missing Link, by I. F. Odintsov, V. A. Motovilov

Shoaling, by I. F. Odintsov, V. A. Motovilov

Spots on the Water, by V. A. Motovilov, I. F. Odintsov

Wind Tunnel Needed for Pollution Research

(V. Gendrikson; SOVETSKAYA ESTONIYA, 20 Jul 78) k6

Protecting Water Resources

(V. Morozov; EKONOMICHESKAYA GAZETA, Jul 78) kf

Hydrogen -- Fuel of the Future

(V. Legasov Interview; LENINGRADSKÄYA PRAVDA,

23 Jul 78) 51

b -
CONTENTS (Continued) Page

Briefs

Gas Treatment Plant 55

Water Pollution Check 55

WESTERN EUROPE

DWERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Conference Finds DDT Still Present in Mothers* Milk

(BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 21 Jul 78) 56

Denmark and Sweden To Establish Seismic Studies for N-Plant

Siting

(POLITIKEN, 8 Jul 78) 58

DENMARK

Project To Save Beaches Announced

(POLITIKEN, 15 Jul 78) 59

- c
INDIA

'ACIDIC MIST' OVER CITY ALARMS CALCUTTA

Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English 31 Jul 78 p 1

[Text]

By a Reporter

AIR pollution Is assuming alarming proportions in parts of Calcutta, where people are becoming

more vulnerable to accidents and

diseases. K preventive action is

not taken, experts apprehend that

in another 10 years, Calcutta may

face a situation comparable to the

"Ponora air pollution" in California (USA) in 1948 when the death

loH rors to about 600 within an

hnvr or the great "London Fog"

of 1952 when London's links with

the rest of the world were snapped.

According to Mr S. C. Banerjee,

Chief Inspector, Smoke Nuisance

Directorate, the two worst-affected

areas are around Birla Planetarium and the Ultadanga station. In

both areas the content of sulphur

dioxide in the air has increased

considerably.

Near the planetarium, the

amount of sulphur dioxide in the

air is now about 74 part* per million parts (p.p.m), forming an

"acidic mist" with the moisture of

the air. The earthwork done by

the' Metropolitan Transport Project contributes to pollution by

throwing up dust. The "acidic

mist" and the dust combine to

form a large number of aerosoles

in the air, which affect visibility.

The traffic bottleneck in that

particular place (again because of

the tube railway work) are also

contributing to the increase of

sulphur dioxide in the air. The

high percentage of fuel (exceeding 5%) and the exhaust fumes

from stalled vehicles also affect

the atmosphere. The number of vehicles is much larger in the pBD

Bag area; but they have greater

mobility aftd/as tf result, there Is«

less sulphur dioxide in the air. ..>;

The position is worse In the Ultadanga station area. In fact, the

spurt in train accidents in that

area during the last few years is

believed to have been caused majnly by the polluted atmosphere

there. Almost all drivers have complained that signals were not .visible in the evening, according »to

railway sources.

ACID VAPOURS > , Mr Banerjee said there. wer«. a,

number of acid-manufacturing

plants on Bagmarl Road and ""

rlpukür Road,ö " emitting ""• -' äctcvjva«

pours all the time. As in the Birla Planetarium area, these acid vapours, mingled "with dust particles

form aerosoles, reduce visibility to

a great extent in winter. The only

way accidents in the station can

be averted, Mr Banerjee felt, was

by closing all the plants. "Accidents or no accidents, the position

is dangerous," he added.

The existing Smoke Pollution

Act, which came into force as early as 1905, is inadequate to cope

with the problem. Strangely, no

changes have been made to the

Act since 1905. The Central Air

Pollution Act has been under eon-»

sideration since 1972.

The Chief Inspector felt that

modification of the existing Smoke

Pollution Act was urgently needed

to cope with the problem and to

gear up the department cöhoern«

ed. Referring to theWater Ptftoj

tion Board, he said the board bad

not been abl«*to organize its ."infrastructure", though, the! Bill, was

passed by tta C*nfre-?ä!cojaple of

yisars ago. •'>: >. •"■■!" ß ' „'" '_,

The proposed anuendmeijt tflttl»

Smoke Nuisance Act,' Mrf>Ban«rjee

said, should be Implements« immediately, for It covered all*asptect*.

of the air pollution crisis. ,H»»lso

was in favour of a JtffeJB* ft* an

aftequate "InfrastrutinirfeM -Sm, W>

directorate. , Other mte jBovwfcmentshäve passed orjfcttKtrtthe,

Act without waiting tor rlh« Central Act. The Maharap« ,Ooj«rnment his wcwitly «one 4o.Y*W?

«houM West Bengal fraltf*-f,Mr

>Bai?eriee' asked. , ; -^Li-'l-'AA. '

. In. Calcutta, about 'M0» to«tttrüs «Alt./39S tonne« of> smoke

•ve?y^ty. Vahlcto. eft* Amyu

»Mines of smoke «tad *>0t * '4W, While the cdritrlbittton byvhouitibloVk'm tonnes. TW»e . valre

teVefled' In i, sdrVejv ^ndertafcen

by the National Envfroihnewal Engineering Research Institute recently. Indiscriminate burnln* of

rubber tyres, wood-chips afäomer

item«, »specially in winter add to

«jllufion. The conseqMlit; h»lth

Mzitia also require, .prfrenljv*

measure for pfrllujion, 1% *Wte«d

fie hasten the growth,« '«aneer

Th» Smoke NuisanWDire<!tor*t*

Is "crippled"' mainly because of

Shortage of staff. Tberftjre ttntar

three inspectors to supervise .»• the

operations of 6,000 factotles . and

about 27*00 furnace» J&r, ana

Sound ttuTelty. This *ot My

nMfces supervision difficult «Ut

also' leads to an annuri\jk)lM of

about Rs 3 lakhs In GoWöätnt

revenue.

CSO: 5000
BULGARIA

WATER PURIFICATION PLANTS WORK UNSATISFACTORILY

Sofia OTECHESTVEN FRONT in Bulgarian 21 Jul 78 p 2

[Article by'Georgi Pavlov, chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection, Council of. Ministers: "Construction and Operation of Water Treatment Plants"] --.-'•'

[Text] Maintaining the cleanliness of.water flows and basins and making integrated use of water are among the basic thrusts in efforts to clean up the

environment. In a number of the country's regions, the water balance is

negative. Water is a major natural resource and an essential raw material

for industry, and in some places it is already in short supply.

To protect bodies of water against pollution from, sewage water from population centers and industrial enterprises, efforts are underway to build effective treatment plants and reduce the amount of industrial waste water by introducing waste-free production technologies and water recycling.

Normal operation of a treatment plant depends on its design, construction,..

and operation. Each of these factors may be the cause of improper functioning

and inadequate performance of a plant. For this reason, it is essential to

find new technologies which make it possible to eliminate pollution and utilize wastes in production itself, and also to find other technical and technological solutions for higher-quality water treatment.

Despite the successes we have achieved recently in the field of design, we

also find a number of design errors, for example, inadequate or low-quality

blueprints or the acceptance of wrong initial data. The best illustration

of this can be seen in the waste industrial water treatment plant of the

Kostinbrod poultry-processing plant, the waste water treatment plant for the

Sofia Rodopa meat combine, the treatment facility in the fuel oil operation

of the Al Voykov DZK [State Boiler Plant] in the city of Novi Iskur, and others.

The problem of high-quality and on-time completion of the construction of

treatment plants is an urgent one in this country. The state is allocating

substantial funds to implement adopted programs. The reasons for failure to
complete projects on time and up to standard are many and various, but the main

one is failure to appraise the problem properly.

Delays in the construction of treatment plants are also the fault of the investors, who are not properly meeting their obligations with respect to

financing, conclusion of contract, assurance of timely delivery of machinery

and components, and construction assistance.

Excessive delays in scheduled construction of treatment plants cause funds to

be tied up inefficiently, construction machinery to be committed for long

periods of time, and design applications to become obsolete before they can

be put into operation. Most important, they excessively delay the process of

cleaning up water flows and basins and bringing them up to standards governing

the particular category. For example, the Lyutadzhik tailings dump in Eliseyna

and the Golyam Bukovets dump in Chiprovtsi were started in 1974. Final completion is now set for 1979. Construction of the treatment plant for the

Garant Metallurgy Plant in Byala Slatina began in 1973 and was supposed to be

finished by 1976, but it is still not ready. The Ministry of Construction

and Construction Materials will have to take urgent steps to ensure on-schedule

and high-quality, completion of construction-installation work on waste water,

treatment plants.

After the creation of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the

Council of Ministers as a specialized agency, its prime and basic task was

to make all treatment facilities operational and to institute strict control

over inoperative or poorly-operating plants. In collaboration with ministry,

state economic association, and enterprise management, specific programs and

schedules were worked out along with measures designed to improve the efficiency of the treatment in poorly-operating plants.

In compliance with adopted schedules and programs last year, 232 treatment

plants improved their performance, and 71 of these achieved full treatment

efficiency. ;

After remodeling, the Khaskovo treatment plant went into operation; today it

-operates with a capacity of over 100 liters/ second. The operational startup of the sludge-storage facility in the Medet MOK [Copper Concentration Combine] makes it possible fq»r water recycling to reach 86,000 cubic meters/day.

Water recycling is also in operation at the V. Kolarov Sugar Combine in

Plovdiv. With the start-up of facilities in 1977, 155,000 cubic meters can

now be treated every 24-hour period.

At present, 8.3 percent of the treatment facilities are functioning unsatisfactorily and require prompt remodeling and modernization in order to boost

their capacity, also the introduction of new treatment technologies and so

on.

Despite good achievements, some treatment plants are still functioning poorly.

For example, the facility in the Ho Chi Min Plant in Stanke Dimitrov, the
Chemical-Pharmaceuticals Plant in Stanke Dimitrov, the municipal treatment

plant in Karnobat, treatment facilities of the poultry-processing plants in

Ruse and Razgrad, the incinerator facilities in Khaskovo, Pleven, Burgas, and

Vidin, the meat combines in Sandanski, Gotse Delchev, Troyan, Srednogorie,

Tolbukhin, and others.

It should be noted that over 45 percent of these facilities are in enterprises

of the system of the "Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. Low efficiency

characterizes the performance of many facilities in units of the Ministry of

Electronics and Electrical Engineering, the Ministry of Transportation, the

Ministry of Chemical Industry, the Ministry of Metallurgy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Machine Building, and others. It is essential that the

officials of these ministries and their Units undertake specific actions to

provide prompt repairs, remodeling, and proper operation of treatment facilities.

The Vodokanal Proekt KNIPIBKS [Complex Scientific-Research and Design Institute

of BKS] has set up a group of experienced specialists to regulate the treatment process in order to set optimal operating conditions" for treatment plants.

The group is preparing instruments and automation equipment for the whole

technological process.

The essence of the preparation is to proceed on the basis of the composition

of the waste water in order to determine and develop the best types of bacteria for the biological process and to adjust the appropriate equipment to'

ensure optimal treatment efficiency. The group issues the necessary recommendations, helps to choose the best technological operating conditions, and

performs start-up and adjustment work on the equipment.

The results of these efforts have been positive, but the small group is still

not up to the task of keeping pace with the rapidly-rising needs of production-1

operational personnel for scientific-technical aid in order to achieve maximum efficiency from the introduction of treatment plants and facilities.

In many places enterprise managers, in order to economize, have been in no

hurry to assign the necessary number of qualified personnel to treatment

plants; naturally, this has led to substandard performance of the facilities.

In the treatment facility at the Petrochemical Combine in Burgas, where treatment efficiency is inadequate, the management has been striving to save On

electricity and reagents. Aerators, pumps, agitators, and so on have been

shut down, and chemical treatment has been inadequate.

In some plants, logs are not kept on the treatment process, or else they are

kept only formally, without technological analysis in order to decide on

timely adjustment of the process to achieve maximum efficiency.

At present, the worst polluters of bodies of water are the sewage systems of

population centers, which receive waste water from industrial enterprises

constituting over 50 percent of the country's total industry. The treatment

plants in some facilities are overloaded, and their efficiency is low. This
is the situation at the Food and Feed Yeasts Plant and the Magnetic Heads

Plant in Razlog, the G. Dimitrov State Wood-Processing Plant in Troyan, the

S. M. Kirov Feed Combine in Dolna Mitropoliya, the dairy complex in Kurdzhali,

and elsewhere.

In recent years, preference has been given to the construction of municipal

treatment plants and facilities in the most heavily polluted regions xn the

upper reaches of rivers.

Without accelerated construction and channeling of capital investments into

the construction of municipal waste water treatment plants, and unless the most

efficacious solutions are found for their construction, because of diminished

funds and delayed start-up deadlines the effect to be gained from their construction will be threatened and the directives issued at the 11th Party

Congress with regard to cleaning up the waters and rivers may not be implemented.

During this five-year plan, construction is underway on treatment plants for

the country's biggest population centers: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas,

Pleven, V. Turnovo, Gabrovo, Vratsa, Tolbukhin, Sliven, N. Zagora, St. Dimitrov, Pernik, and elsewhere. They will be used to treat most of the household and sewage water. Nevertheless, construction is encountering great

difficulties. On the one hand, funds stipulated in the annual plans are not

adequate to complete plants that were begun in the last five-year plan; on

the other, despite the decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee

of the Bulgarian Communist Party, some ministries and okrug people s Soviets

have been reducing these funds and diverting them for other purposes. For

this reason, work on projects has been disrupted, and deadlines have been

delayed.

The worst thing is that the normative timetable for the construction of treatment plants—2.5 years—has not been complied with. For example, the treatment plant in Vratsa was supposed to be built by 1969, those in Sliven, N.

Zagora, and V. Turnovo by 1973, and those in Gabrovo, Pernik, St. Dimitrov,

and Sofia by 1974. The deadline on some of these plants has been postponed

several times. According to the five-year plan, facilities were to be completed by 1978 in Vratsa, V. Turnovo, G. Oryakhovitsa, and St. Dimitrov,

but according to the 1978 plan the only operational one is that in Vratsa.

The funds allocated through 1980 will not permit the completion of 14 municipal plants already begun. But the aim should be to build them quickly, not

to tie up funds, in order to achieve effect. For example, the results of

systematic construction of treatment plants have already been felt in a

number of river valleys. Formerly, the Struma was severely polluted. With

the completion of the municipal plant in Kyustendil, the excavator station

at the Republika TETs [Thermal Power Plant], the Lobush integrated reservoir, and others, waters in the upper reaches of the rivers are already suitable for use in agriculture. After large municipal treatment plants go into

operation in Pernik,, St. Dimitrov, and in a number of industrial facilities,
the waters of the Struma will be even cleaner and can be used directly by consumers. To resolve this task, work is now underway on instituting mechanized

haulage of cinders and ash from cinder dumps and accelerating the treatment

of waste water from the Bobov Dol TETs. The situation there is quite alarming.

Deadlines have elapsed, and the measures stipulated by the Ministry of Power

Supply are not being implemented.

The water in the Yantra will have to be cleaned up from its headwaters to G.

Oryakhovitsa. The Gabrovo and V. Turnovo plants, and others, will have to be.

completed by the end of the five-year plan. This will undoubtedly help to

solve the problem, but the responsible okrug people's Soviets are not paying

enough attention to their construction.

Pollution of the Beli Lom has been reduced thanks to improvement in some of

the produciton technologies at the antibiotics plant in Razgrad and partial

treatment of its waste water by the Razgrad municipal plant. It is essential

that the Ministry of Chemical Industry fully implement its own decisions to

ensure specific treatment of the plant's shops.

Unquestionably, the groundwork is being laid for rapid improvement of water

cleanliness in other bodies of water as well. The process, however, is a slow

one, but the opportunities are there and they must be utilized.

The efforts being made by the Committee for Environmental Protection under

the Council of Ministers are directed primarily toward reducing the amount

of waste water discharged by enterprises and reducing pollution by introducing recycled water supply systems and advanced waste-free production technologies.

The aim is to have minimum capital investments and operating costs while

achieving the optimal cleanliness and best possible economic effect..

9078

CSO: 5000
URUGUAY

ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES SUBJECT OF CONTROLS, LEGISLATION

Rigid Sanitation Controls

Montevideo LA MANANA in Spanish I Jul 78 p 23

[Article by J.J.RodrigueS Gordon.]:

[Text] The municipal mayoralty is carrying out a strict environmental control campaign and the inspection of waste water.

The inspection is being done on Freire, Lavalleja, Saravia and Independencia

streets and violations have been found.

Re-iüent-s are being asked to cooperate and a warning has been issued concerning the possibility of.the application, of penalties in the case of repeat offenses and neglect.

Inspections are also being made of properties with trash piles and the existence of rodents is being carefully watched in areas such as Tablada, Curtiembre, Arroyo Tomas Gonzalez and the continuation of Calle Lezaeta in order

to ensure proper conservation of sanitary conditions following the extermination campaign waged in past months.

Sanitation Rates, Property Cleanness

Montevideo EL DIA in Spanish 23 Jul 78 p 15

[Excerpt] New rates will go into effect on 1 July and continue until 31 December for new sewer connections falling under the commune of Montevideo's

responsibility. "'•'-

According to an official announcement, the price per linear meter when the

projects have been completed by the municipal Civil Engineering Projects

Maintenance Service will be 170.20 pesos if the diameter of the connection

is .10 meters. If the diameter is .15 meters, the price per linear meter

will be 175.20 pesos.

x
In cases where the owner of the building helps with the digging and filling

of the trench, the connection measuring .10 meters in diameter will cost

140.60 pesos and the .15-meter connection will cost 145.40 pesos.

Uncultivated Land

In accordance with the ordinance set up by municipal decree 14.001 (Article 17), any owner of uncultivated lots in this capital is required to keep

them free of refuse and garbage. Such lots must be fenced so that proper

use is not made of them and in order to safeguard the cleanliness and health

of the population. When such requirements are not met, the communal authority has the power, following notice to the owner to correct the situation,

to clean up the untidy lot through the Garbage Collection and Sweeping Service and make the owner of the property bear the cost.

The communal executive authority has just updated rates to be applied to

the task of eliminating unhealthy sites. In the future the hourly rate per

worker will be 5 pesos and the rate for the foreman will be 6 pesos. The

rate for the use of the truck to haul refuse will be 42 pesos and the rate

for the mechanical shovel used for cleaning will be 152 pesos.

Salto Hosts Environment Seminar

Montevideo EL PAIS in Spanish 9 Jul 78 p 19

[Article by Alberto Rodriguez Diaz]

TText] "Salto Grande is an example for the world of how such projects should

be undertaken and I want to emphasize that here we are already using many of

the substantive advances that have been achieved in the area of environmental

protection. This project is an outstanding example for the world because it

takes advantage of and promotes proper use of what we already know about

the protection of the environment." This statement was made by Dr Gustavo

Malek, UNESCO representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, when he

spoke at the.opening session of a seminar on Monday.

The seminar, whose purpose is the training of officials in the application

of standards aimed at protecting the environment in the dam area, will continue until Friday, 7 July.

The opening ceremony was presided over by the vice president of the Salto

Grande joint technical commission, Dr Rjtilo de Paula; the mayor of Salto,

Col Guillermo De Nava; the mayor of Concordia, Rafael Tiscomia; the UNESCO

representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr Gustavo Malek; and

Dr Carlos Adlerstein, director of health, ecology and regional development

of the CTM [expansion unknown].

The event, sponsored by UNESCO, was organized by the Salto Grande CTM for

the purpose of training technical personnel in the application of standards

for the protection of the environment.

8
In his address, Dr Malek made the following remarks:

"At this opening session, it is a great pleasure for me.to speak on behalf

of the general director of UNESCO because the purpose that brings us here

today is one that fits into the general framework of the vital problems

relating to environmental science, as it is now called, a matter to which

we now assign high priority.

"First of all, I wish to!extend special thanks to the authorities of the

Salto Grande joint technical commission for the opportunity they have given

me to deliver this address and congratulate them for the work they have

accomplished. Without exaggerating in the least, I can say that your work,

which is of a high technical and social level, and the consistent lines of

action being carried out, as at this seminar, can be considered, on the

regional and even world level, as an example of how a project of this scope

should now be faced in an integral fashion. This fact should be pointed

out and special emphasis should also be placed on the fact that it is a

joint undertaking of two brother countries, which in addition to offering an

example of horizontal technical cooperation* demonstrate the extremely important aspect of leading toward integration. One day, cases such as these

will provide us with firm foundations for a broad integration of countries

throughout the region, that highly sought-after and evasive integration.

"All of those here present will recall that on 5 and 6 June 1972, 1,200 delegates from 140 countries met in Stockholm to hold the World Conference on

the Human Environment. At that meeting, a slogan was adopted that has turned

into a symbol: 'One Single Earth'.

"It was the first time in the history of mankind that governmental representatives had ever met to evaluate the influence of man on,the system which

sustains life on the planet Earth.

"From that time on, the international community has actively sought to engage

in concrete undertakings that would substantially' contribute to the solution

of environmental problems in developing as well as developed countries.

"In many specific fields, there is already sufficiently advanced knowledge

and various disciplines also have the theoretical foundations and practical

experience needed to provide concrete solutions to many environmental problems in addition to those of their own areas of specialization. By way of

example, one might mention atmospheric pollution, the solutions to which

have received an important contribution from biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, climatology, meteorology, topography, geology, engineering, and so on.

Something similar has occurred with the pollution of the seas, the land

and continental bodies of water and waterways, to wit, soil conservation,

the quality of water, forest management, environmental health and integrated

control of plagues. The solutions to every one of these problems have

stemmed from knowledge accumulated in various immediate provisions.
"On the other hand, we have little knowledge of the great complexity of the

interactions that occur between the various elements in the environmental

system. Our understanding of the influence of the social, economic and

cultural aspects on the different problems of the environment is quite superficial and we have little knowledge of the role played by the needs and

values which inspire man's activities in relation to the environment. At the

same time, we still have insufficient scientific knowledge of the behavior

of the ecological systems, considered to be a whole, and especially, about

the mechanisms aimed at maintaining their stability and absorbing natural

environmental impacts or those deriving from human activities. There are

many unknowns about the laws governing the natural processes, those which

determine the socioeconomic and sociocultural processes and their interactions.

"And yet, there have been substantial advances in the recognition of the

possible ways in which the environmental dimension, the essence of the

holistic viewpoint, may be introduced into the different disciplines and

sectors."

Salto Grande: Vanguard

"On this point, I should like to say that in the specific case of Salto

Grande, many of these substantive advances are already being used and I

would emphasize that it is one of the foremost examples on the world level

in which the people are taking advantage of and promoting proper uses. At

the same time, there can be no doubt that there is here an excellent understanding of the improved comprehension of the innumerable problems that arise

and the concrete actions leading to their solution.

"In the field of development, one can glimpse several positive prospects for

the future of the socioenvironmental situation. In the past five years,

the holistic environmental outlook has begun to show alternative strategies

of development instead of the traditional forms. Such strategies have

emerged from new ways of viewing the interrelations between the environment

and development.

"During this period, there has been an extremely wide range of experience

accumulated in certain priority spheres such as the handling of natural

resources in various types of ecosystems, human settlements, environmental

and community health, hydraulic resources, the management of major engineering projects, food products, natural fertilizers, energy, natural disasters,

oceans and the population. In each one of these vertical sectors, which

constitute important elements of a given environmental sector defined in

time and space, there is a beginning of the promotion of a multisectorial

and multidisciplinary concept for the implementation of a systematic,

overall ecological management. You have the example before you in Salto

Grande.

"Based on such a concept, new multidisciplinary methodologies for environmental regulation and management, new techniques for evaluation (systems of

environmental monitoring), methods for evaluating processes of deterioration

10
(expansion of the desert, pollution, erosion, deforestation, fires), new

systems of information and references, the formulation of national and international legal frameworks, the analysis of systems to be applied to the

trends of the development process, the environment and natural resources, the

creation of new methodologies for education, training, administration, and

so on, are all possible. ti

"These methodologies could make up for the limitations presented by each sector precisely if one thinks and acts sectorially and presented by each discipline if they do not go beyond their own sphere. The problems affecting

the environment and the development processes are above all holistic in

nature. The fact that certain sectors and disciplines have not acted in

concert with the rest has caused many of the difficulties in implementing

environmentally sound development policies.

"Because of all of these things, we can state without a doubt that the

question of the environment requires a new kind of development.

"Today, .in both the developing and industrialized countries. it is recognized

that there is an intimate relation between the economic, social and cultural

aspirations of man on the one hand and the heritage of natural resources

and the environment on the other. These resources constitute the main

means of achieving those aspirations. Consequently, environmental questions

have inevitably'been turned into a global topic and ate increasingly confused with the complex set of economic, sociopolitical and cultural matters

now confronting mankind.

"As a valuable result of this view, we have identified the root of one of the

most critical problems of our contemporary society: the interrelation of the

development process with the environment. This is a matter which, despite

its profound importance, had not been noted by past generations."

"Ecodevelopment"

"As a result, the final solution will only be possible through the implementation of an alternative type of development: ecodevelopment which, based

on an environmental doctrine, manages to overcome the disadvantages of current patterns. I wonder: Here in Salto Grande, are we not already working

with this criterion?

"In order not to stray into irrelevant discussions, we must always remember

what Strong said: 'Not only are development and the environment not opposed

to one another, but rather, they constitute two different aspects of the

same concept."

MAB Project"

"In order to conclude my address, I should like to mention that withinjthe

vast program which UNESCO heads under the initials MAB (man and the biosphere) — there are 14 principal changes — Project 10 is specifically

11
aimed at studying the effects on man and his environment of the designs and

lcompletion of major engineering projects. MAB 10 is an eminently 'integrated'

project of the holistic type and it has to do with any human action that

would have an impact and great repercussions on very extensive areas of the

natural environment and human populations.

"The major engineering projects that we intend to be essential instruments

of economic and social development also entail, as we all know very well,

great environmental and social costs, sometimes because of the application

of inappropriate technologies, sometimes a lack of knowledge or criteria for

evaluation, and finally, because of the physical limitations of the environment. Scientists, professionals and other interested groups have an enormous role to play in the resolution of these problems, especially in order to

make the process of planning more sensitive to social and environmental

issues.

"Based on these criteria, the powers of political decision-making will indubitably have perfect knowledge of alternatives of the highest technical

and human level.

"In order to carry these ideas forward in their many phases, we always come

to an essential point: We need trained human resources. That is the objective of this seminar: to train local officials for environmental administration.

"It is also interesting to note another substantive element of ecodevelopment: the participation of the community. Such participation is very important since aside from the many obvious advantages it presents, it gives

those responsible for decisions and our specialists a definite certainty that

the higher interests of the region and the nations will prevail over individual preferences and viewpoints, ,which we believe are always honest but

which may be partial.

"I should like to reiterate our praise for all the officials and persons

responsible for this extraordinary project, which is a model for the world.

I salute you and on behalf of UNESCO, I wish you success in your work. The

shortest distance between two points is never to stop and here in Salto

Grande, that truth has a magnificent example."

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URUGUAY

FRENCH ENGINEER EVALUATES SERIOUSNESS OF EROSION

Montevideo EL DIA in Spanish 1 Jul 78 p 24

[Article by Daniel Gomari]

[Text] A few days before he returned to France, agricultural engineer

Jean Claude Revel, assistant at the Toulouse Laboratory of Pedology, held

a press .conference at the French Embassy to describe the impressions he

gained from his stay in our country.

Also present were the director of soils and fertilizers, engineer Ruben Dotti,

agricultural engineer Gustavo Sacco, a technician from that directorate, and

Gerard Faroux, cultural and scientific and technical cooperation attache

at the French Embassy.

The basic purpose of Revel's visit was to lend his assistance in working

with the technique of thin sheets. For the past few weeks, the Soil Directorate has had modern equipment for this procedure, obtained within the

framework of a French-Uruguayan cooperation agreement dating from 1967, an

agreement that has led to tangible progress in the field of research into,

and the study of our soils.

Thin Sheets

"The thin sheet technique," Revel said, "consists of including the soil in

a material that hardens it. It is attached to a sheet of glass until it

has a thickness of 0.03 millimeters. It then becomes transparent and it is

possible to observe it under the microscope.by transmitted light. Its

applications are many, including the study of the transformation of primary

materials into secondary materials in order to see how the soil was formed.

One can also see the different phases that have taken place (pedogenesis).

From the practical standpoint, it is possible to observe the microstructure

of diagnostic horizons, recognizing and classifying the soil by means of

the visualization of the thin sheet, in drawing up maps, for example. One

can also see the means of aggregation and structural stability. It so happens that this property is in direct relation to resistance to erosion,

which makes it possible to anticipate the risk of erosion before starting

any given crop."

13
Problem of Erosion

Revel praised the work being done by the Soil Directorate, work that has

recently made it possible to publish a map with a scale of 1/1,000,000.

"The information which you possess on the soil is comparable to that of

France," he said.

For 4 weeks, he toured the coastal agricultural area, Tacuarembo and then

along Route 5 as far as Montevideo. He was able to observe organic soils

with characteristics only found on the Plata River.

When asked about the problem of erosion in our country, Revel said that his

tour "made it possible to place soils in three categories":

Wasted, thin soils found in certain basalt areas or in the crystalline

"edges." For the time being, they are used for intensive grazing and suffer

little from erosion, but they must be watched or else these areas will be

totally transformed into deserts.

Poor, but deep soils (area between Rivera and Tacuarembo), where erosion

takes away the upper layers of the soil but which, due to their thickness,

can still be used for crops.

Rich soils, whether deep or superficial (western coastal zone), where erosion takes away the richest and most fertile layers. Intensive erosion becomes catastrophic here.

"Not Heavy"

"To date, erosion has not been very heavy, but it seems to be accentuated

with the development of agriculture. In this case, we must differentiate

between different degrees of erosion. We shall speak of only two: erosion

that can be corrected by means of mechanical methods at the time of crop,

growing ('laminar' and 'trough' erosion). The methods to be used consist

of appropriate growing techniques such as horizontal levels or alternate

bands: contour farming. Some farmers on the western coast are partially

using these techniques, which after the necessary experimentation should become more widespread. The Soil Directorate is working actively on these

aspects, adjusting techniques," the French expert said.

"The other case is when erosion has reached too great an extreme to be

corrected ('gullies' or 'gulches'). One must then resort to conditioning

(tree planting, for example, in order to stabilize banks and pastures)."

Revel defined Uruguayan soils as "highly diversified and containing a high

degree of organic material, which makes their richness (reserve of fertilizing elements)."

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lk
URUGUAY

HEAVY RAINS CALL FOR EVACUATIONS, ALERT

Itapebi Arroyo Overflows

Montevideo EL DIA inSpanish 1 Jul 78 p 12

[Article by Wilfredo Paiva]

[Text] For hours, the possible fate of. the Yacare Bridge was uncertain due

to the flooding of the Itapebi Arroyo on Route 3.

EL DIA recently reported on the deforestation projects carried out in the

areas affected by the formation of the Salto Grande Lake. The projects are

located along the mountains oh the banks of the arroyo.in question.

The work is practically finished but it so happens that the large trees "»

that were uprooted were were left along the waterway so that they could be %;

removed when convenient.

With the recent rains, the waterway overflowed its banks and carried toward

the little bridge hundreds of heavy tree trunks that accumulated to form a

dam next to the bridge.

As mentioned, the situation was a matter of concern to the Highway Directorate, Which immediately took the proper measures so that the enterprise responsible for deforestation would clean out the waterway.

This fact and the cessation of the rainfall made it possible to correct a

situation that could have been extremely serious since the Yacare Bridge is

the only way by which Route 3 can reach the north, where El Espinillar,

Constitucion and Belen are located and where bridges and branch roads are

being built.

Mercedes, Durazno Evacuate 113

Montevideo LA MANANA in Spanish 2 Jul 78 p 20

[Text] Yesterday there was a considerable increase in the number of persons

evacuated from areas in the interior of the country certain to suffer this

type of problem due to the flooding of rivers and arroyos.

15
We are specifically referring to the areas on the banks of the Negro River

at Mercedes and the Yi River in the vicinity of the city of Durazno. In all,

some 113 persons are involved, 68 from Durazno and 45 from Mercedes.

While the situation is tending to return to normal with respect to road

traffic due to the good weather over the past 48 hours, an increasing number

of persons is being evacuated since the effects of the flooding have begun

to reach areas generally susceptible to flooding.

Daniel Rondan, our correspondent in Mercedes, states that as a result of the

flooding of the Negro River, 11 families totaling 45 persons were evacuated.

They were housed in the facilities of the Luis Koster Municipal Stadium

and at thei Leonel Röcca Municipal Velodrome.

The entire coastal zone is affected by the.flooding of the Negro River,

which despite the fact that it has not raiiied, has risen at the rate of

5 centimeters per hour, a rate that tended to drop last night. Jose Batlle y

Ordonez Avenue is partially covered with water and the flood has also affected

Guernica Park, the Isla del Puerto resort, the facilities of the Remeros

Mercedes Club and the El Surubi and El Ayui fishermen's ciubs. At 1000 hours

yesterday morning, the waters Were 5.65 meters above their normal level

and at 2100 hours, 6.10 meters above that level. It should be added that the

highest level reached was on 19 March, when the Waters were 8.98 meters above

the normal level.

Durazno

The level of the waters of the Yi River is constant, but they are 9.10 meters

above the normal level. This has led to the evacuation of 24 families totaling 68 persons: 29 adults and 39 children.

By last night, high vehicles could cross the Malbajar Arroyo and it is presumed that communications will be restored since traffic in other areas of

the department is normal.

Mercedes Records 30 More

Montevideo EL PAIS in Spanish 2 Jul 78 p 1

[Article by Ricardo Nole Llaguno] Mercedes—A total of 16 families numbering

75 persons have had to abandon their homes in recent hours in a broad strip

of land along the Negro River, which began to rise at an increasing rate

2 days ago, reaching the figure of 6 centimeters per hour.

' !

The flooding; caused by the heavy rains this past week, comes only 3 months

after the rising waters which flooded a large part of the city of Mercedes.

In a matter of hours, the waters of the Hum covered most of the beautiful

Jose Batlle Avenue and the task of rescuing many families began at noon.

16
The rise was very rapid and in a few minutes, the river waters passed the

5.60 level in the morning. By noon, they were up to 5.70 and by nightfall,

they were at 6 meters. The waters continued to rise at a rate of 4 centimeters per hour.

Several points along the Mercedes coast and the broad zone of the Guerkika

Park were totally covered by the flooding Negro River waters. It is estimated

that the situation will continue to grow worse for at least 48 more hours.

The opening of the gate's of the Gabriel Terra Dam caused the flood.

In rural areas, livestock owners had to work furiously in order to evacuate

animals from the flooded regions since the rate at which the waters rose

was sometimes incredible.

It is reported that the situation is under control.

In Galarza and Rio Negro, the first families have left, and information from

Palmar indicates that the rise in the river continues to be slow in recent

hours.

Route 14 is still cut off by the flooding of the Grande Arroyo and there

have been some problems along access roads.

Yi River: Slow Abatement

Montevideo LA MANANA in Spanish 5 Jul 78 p 8

[Article by Jesus Carlos Correa]

[Text] At an extremely slow rate, less than 3 centimeters per hour, the

waters of the Yi River have begun to drop in recent hours as they pass

through this city.

According to information from the Guard Office of the local Police Headquarters, the river began to drop early Tuesday morning. The families that

had been evacuated as a preventive measure have already returned to their

homes and another 28 families, including 53 adults and 83 children, are

waiting for the waters to drop further.

Victims are being housed in cars and sheds of the AFE [State Railways Administration] , where sanitary conditions are reportedly normal. Official

spokesmen say that if the water level continues to drop, everything will be

back to normal by Thursday. It only remains to be seen how long it will

take for the properties affected to dry out. Their occupants should not

return immediately. In order to prevent disease, it is recommended that

people wait for all dampness to have disappeared.

For many persons, the problem is not so simple. Every time there is a

flood, there are usually two or three families who remain homeless when

.17
the Yi returns to its banks since the waters have carried away their homes.

This uncertainty affects many families from the Puertos de los Barriles and

La Amarilla districts, whose properties are in the area hardest hit. The

flimsiness of construction and the fact that this is not the first flood

the homes have had to withstand give rise to this period of nervous waiting

to see whether the dwellings still exist.

More Rain Causes Alert

Montevideo LA MANANA in Spanish 29 Jul 78 p 8

[Text] The intense rainfall that has fallen in recent hours throughout

the nation has, while not causing alarm, alerted the authorities in several

departments to the consequences that might occur in the coming hours.

While in Salto the Uruguay River is at 7.97 meters above 0 and continues

to rise, the situation could cause serious problems due to the delayed

planting of wheat and with respect to cattle to be fattened. The current

situation would prevent the unloading at the port of the departmental

capital of the turbine shafts for Salto Grande which are expected early

next week.

In Fray Bentos, an area in which there are rarely problems resulting from

the flooding of the Uruguay River, the evolution of measurements has shown

a marked increase, going from 96 centimeters above 0 on Wednesday to 1.40

at the last measurement yesterday evening. It has also been reported that

at 010G hours on Friday, the level was 1.60 above 0.

Durazno: Waiting to Evacuate

In the city of Durazno, the situation was one of tense expectation due to

the rise in the waters of the Yi River, which although they have not reached

the point of evacuation, have nevertheless caused authorities to take

measures during the next 24 hours if the rise should continue.

For its part, Mercedes, which presents a similar problem with the Negro

River, does not have a worrisome situation since there has been only light

rain in recent hours. The situation is nevertheless one of vigilance.

Canelones

Last night, Jose Seraolo was traveling in his car, accompanied by Isaac

Rodriguez. They were on Route 67 between Las Piedras and Sauce when, while

crossing a roadway without any railing, the current seized the vehicle with

its occupants inside. Seraolo managed to escape from the automobile and

pulled Isaac Rodriguez to the surface, but due to the strong current,

the latter was dragged away. He managed to grab hold of a tree sticking

out of the water and Seraolo, who had reached the bank, once again went into

the turbulent waters to save his companion.

The car has not yet been found. *

18
Meteorology

The General Directorate of Meteorology has established that the amount of

rain that has fallen throughout the country varies.

Punta del Este received 21 millimeters; Rocha, 16. In Montevideo, the

amount was similar to that of the National Airport of Carrasco, with

6 millimeters.

In Melo, Paysandu and Rivera, it is considered impossible to measure the

amount of rain that fell due to the small volume.

Bridges are out on Route 30 to Tacuarembo, Route 29 in Arroyo Corrales and

Route 27 in Tres Puentes.

The ONDA [expansion unknown] enterprise reports that it cannot communicate

between Salto in the north and Tomas Gomensoro, which has been the case

since Thursday.

The entire country is waiting to see what will happen in the hours to come.

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URUGUAY

CONCERN FOR WATER INCLUDES EXPANSION, SHORTAGE FEAR

Drinking Water Expansion

Montevideo LA MANANA in Spanish 29 Jul 78 p 19

[Article by Carlos Alvarez]

[Text] Dolores—Based on a plan drawn up by the OSE [State Board of Sanitation] , this city's drinking water system will be expanded by 7,600 meters in

order to meet the priorities of the different districts. Work will soon

begin and has been entrusted to a private enterprise, according to information

made public.

Running water was installed in Dolores in 1942 and there are now some 2,500

connections. The water comes from nine semi-submerged wells located in the

"drilling zone" and equipped with electric pumps. The capacity of the distribution tank is a half million liters.

Possible Drinking Water Shortage

Montevideo EL DIA in Spanish 31 Jul 78 p 4

[Text] Authorities are still concerned with ensuring a normal supply of

drinking water to different localities in the country. The OSE is the

organization in charge of the projects involved.

In Rivera, the population of Vichadero recently made new demands and even

presented a more ambitious preliminary plan in order to provide a broad

solution. The president of the OSE, Nicolas Goloubintseff, said, without

discarding the proposal, that for the time being, the organization was

awaiting the result of a third drilling located a few kilometers from

Vichadero. If the drilling should yield positive results, it would ensure

a supply of the vital liquid.

Villa Tupambae merited similar attention and this week, the Executive

Branch ordered an expropriation for the purpose of permitting the OSE

drilling that will supply water to that area. In agreement with the

20
minister of transport and public works, the president set forth a resolution

designating a parcel of land located in the eighth judicial section of

Cerro Largo (Villa Tupambae) to be expropriated "for reasons of public usefulness," declaring "its occupation to be urgent" and "necessary for the

drilling of well No 1191/4 (OSE), which will supply drinking water to Villa

Tupambae."

Water: A Public Interest

Montevideo EL DIA in Spanish 28 Jul 78 p 5

[Text] The proposals made in international organizations and various local

centers in several countries concerning the effects of environmental pollution which threaten water are very serious.

They have to do with health, production, the economy and in general, the

existence of civilization. Even before the movement for the protection of

the ecology gained strength, we emphasized the need to define a water policy f

in the country in order to attenuate the effects of erosion, form reserves |

regulating the use of the water in our rich river system which is lost without being properly harnessed and in sum, attempt to gain important economic

benefits due to the influence of irrigation on agricultural production.

In addition, the construction of dams, dikes and other projects for the

regulation of water supply positive elements for all human activity and for

the conservation of species useful to man.

In some places, official and private entities which practice ideals of service to the community promote campaigns of instruction and propaganda in

order to induce the people to make prudent use of water, creating awareness

that not only does mankind need more water, but the water used must.have

high levels of purity for hygiene, health and crops. The subject is of

such importance that it is considered to be a matter of public interest

and there is every reason that this should be so.

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URUGUAY

MANY ASPECTS TO CONSIDER IN RIVERA FORESTATION

Montevideo EL DIA in Spanish 25 Jul 78 p 9

[Article by Jose Luis Vera]

[Text] Another one of the topics put before the national government by the

delegation from Rivera during the work session which Dr Aparicio Mendez

headed at the Hotel Casino had to do with forestation.

Agricultural engineer Juan E. Longinotti spoke for the local workers and

his report was considered to be very interesting, as in the case of the problem of citrus crops of which we spoke on Saturday. Longinotti was congratulated by the president of the republic and the acting minister of agriculture

and fishing, chemical engineer Luis H. Meyer.

It was repeated at the meeting that the sandy prairies in Rivera have been

declared to be an area of priority for forestation. While activity is proceeding at a good pace, it must be promoted even more.

Longinotti told EL DIA that our country has a legal tool, Law 13,723, regulatory decrees and other provisions which in one way or another tend to put

into practice a policy of national forest development. The law is clearly

promotional in nature and is based on tax benefits, a credit policy and industrial promotion.

Forestation in Rivera

The national government was informed of the different means that could be

used to promote forest development in Rivera, to wit:

Credits: Longinotti said that taking into account the fact that forestation is a long-range operation (15 to 20 years), it is necessary to have a

credit policy based on the type of operation in question. For the establishment of nurseries, for example, benefits are achieved in a shorter

period of time, but this is not true when it is a question of the planting

of forests, and although the forest law provides for the credit aspect,

the Bank of the Republic does not currently have credit lines for forestation.

22
Despite the good intentions of the legislature and the existence of a study

and proposal for the method of applying credits through the Forest Fund, it

has not been possible to implement this important phase.

Machinery: Machinery built in the country --. specifically tractors — cost

nearly double what the original equipment did.

In order to apply the provisions of the promotional law —that is, low-cost

equipment based on the importation of specific machinery with a minimum of

surcharges and tax-free — all the procedures must be followed in order to

protect the national assembly plants.

The speaker said that it is necessary to carry out the forest promotion laws,

adjusting the negative points observed to the maximum extent.

Tax exemptions: The delegation from Rivera said that it would be fundamental

to maintain a policy of tax revision in the development of forestion. In

addition, the revision would have to be extended to the industrial sectors,

which would then be able to reinvest their taxes in forestation, as neighboring countries have done with great success.

Labor: On this point, it was explained that the problem was similar to what

is happening in the citrus crop area. The same solutions were recommended,

having to do with regular courses and special short courses at the Rivera

Rural Teaching Center, where personnel would be trained at different levels.

Establishment of Industries: The people in Rivera know that if forestation

should be concentrated in one region, which is very possible since the areas

of priority have been designated, in the years to come, there will exist

a very large forested zone, which would make it possible to set up zonal

industries which would handle the overall processing of the lumber.

Roads: The delegation from the border city recognized that with respect to

access roads, the proper authorities have faced the problem since it is a

constant concern. As a result, they have deemed that it is necessary to

maintain and intensify the opening up of new access roads, which have recently been accurately termed "integration roads."

Burning of fields: It was reported that fields are frequently burned off,

which tends to destroy the dry vegetation in order to make the rapid regrowth

of pasture possible. This handling of land, which is very common in areas . v.

used for livestock raising, should be very well regulated since it implies

a serious danger to forestation, especially those species which are very

combustible, such as pine.

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INTER-ARAB AFFAIRS

CONFLICT.BETWEEN MAN, ENVIRONMENT IN MIDDLE EAST EXPLORED

Beirut EVENTS in English 11 Aug 78 pp 26-29

[Part I of a Series, "Environment Under Seige"]

[Text] The environment is under attack

throughout the Middle East. Population boom, rapid industrialisation,

urbanisation, intensive exploitation of

oil wealth - these are just some of the

elements which are combining to rfiake

unprecedented demands on the balance

of nature in the region. We are asking

the earth to give - and forgive - much

more than ever before.

Are we despoiling the environment in

a way which may permanently damage

our ability to survive? Do we need a

spectacular disaster, like the recent

Amoco Cadiz oilspill in the English

Channel, to stir us into action to forestall a creeping, long-term catastrophe?

Or is environmental concern basically a

dispensable luxury which developing

countries cannot afford in theirstruggle

to feed their people?

"We're far too 6usy developing," said

one Arab environmentalist. "Nobody is

really serious about the environment

problem. Lip service is paid, meetings

are financed and committees set up, but

none of them has any power. Everybody

agrees it's terrible, but very little is

done."

The Middle East is probably the

world's fastest-developing area. This

rapid growth and industrialisation

alone should be enough to arouse

environmental concern, since even in

such ideal conditions development

invariably has some impact on the environment.

But Middle East conditions are far

from ideal. The sudden influx of oil

money into the region enabled it to buy

in advanced technologies without having any experience of their application

'or impact. This technology is the fruit of

more than a century's experience in

industrialised countries which have

only recently come to realise that there

are limits to the earth's resources and

its ability to absorb pollution.

East's natural environment is particularly finely-balanced and vulnerable because of its harsh climate,

and one begins to appreciate the particular danger posed by rapid, uncontrolled growth. Conversely, the region's

special situation gives it a chance -

perhaps responsibility - to give a lead to

the Third World by evolving new patterns of development, by learning from

the mistakes and experience of the

industrialised world instead of blindly

copying it.

The extreme fragility of the natural

balance in many parts of the Middle

East is illustrated by its biggest and

most pressing environmental problem:

desertification, a word which has come

to mean the loss of once-productive land

. under a variety of circumstances, only

one of which is the onset ofgenuine conditions. Many environmental lessons

2k
"Do we need a

spectacular disaster

to stir us into action

to avoid catastrophe?"

are spelled out by the Arab world's

experience of what is a worldwide affliction.

The global estimates and projections

for this phenomenon are shocking.

Recent studies suggest that around five

million hectares (50,000 sq km) of cultivated land worth some $l.lhn is nowbeing lost annually. Others conclude

that half a tonne of vitally needed fertile soil is being eroded every year for

every human being. Projections by the

United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) indicate that, between

now and the end of the century, the

amount of cultivated land per person

will be halved, even when allowance is

made for land reclamation. It took a

disaster - the Sahelian drought of

1973-75 - to focus modern attention on a

problem which is now worsening

rapidly after decades and even centuries of steady deterioration.

In Roman times, North Africa was

the fertile granary of the empire, and

glowing reports were written about the

abundant fertility of Mesopotamia.

Now North Africa is largely desert,

while Iraq's saline soils provide some of

the world's lowest crop yields. Estimates of global loss of croplands over

history vary between nine and 20 million sq km, compared with the 12-15

million sq km currently under cultivation.

There are few accurate figures on how

much land is being lost to desertification annually in the Arab world

today, though Egyptian experts estimate that the amount of cropland per

head of population in their country has

dropped by half since 1930.

But Dr Ibrahim Nahhal, regional

advisor on desertification, says there is

no doubt that the desert is still inexorably advancing. "The Middle East is

in a very critical situation," he says.

"This is problem number one in our region, and it's getting worse all the time."

Despite much speculation that climate changes may lie behind the

desert's advance, all the evidence is that

the problem is created by its principal

victim, man himself. "All the research

done in the region has indicated that

the climate hasn't changed radically

since the fifth millenium BC." says Dr

Nahhal. "All studies have concluded

that the root cause of desertification in

the Middle East is man's improper

management in the utilisation of soil,

water and vegetation resources."

In fact, the accurate way of presenting the picture is not to say thatthe

desert is advancing, but that man is

creating new deserts and pushing them

to link up with the existing ones - and

this at a time when population pressures make land loss more disastrous

than ever. As Erik Eckholm of the

Worldwatch Institute concluded grimly

in his recent book Losing Ground,

"Humans are - out of desperation,

ignorance, shortsightedness or greed -

destroying the basis of their own livelihood as they violate the limits of

natural systems."

How is this happening in the Middle

East? The causes are many, but one of

the greatest - large-scale cultivation of

marginal semi-arid rangelands - provides a classic argument for respecting

and working with the existing natural

balance. It also illustrates the danger of

falling for short-term economic gains,

and the extent to which even modest

technology, unwisely used, can vastly

enhance man's ability to damage his

environment, sometimes irreversibly.

Mechanisation and the advent of the

tractor meant that large tracts of this

rangeland - with annual rainfall var-

"The root cause of

desertification is

man's improper use of

natural resources"

ying between 100 and 200mm-could be

ploughed up and sown with cereals or

other crops which were not in tune with

their environment, and which either

failed or could only be cropped for one or

two years. The net result was the destruction of the natural vegetation,

which was in equilibriumwith its harsh

surroundings. With all ground cover

25
destroyed, the soil and its essential nutrients were subject to rapid erosion by

wind and water, resulting in sterile

conditions where hitherto the climate

itself could sustain at least modest

native vegetation.

This is just one of the ways in which

land is being lost. Overgrazing and

trampling by excessive numbers of

livestock is another factor, deforestation another. Meanwhile, the fertility

of well irrigated land is being progressively destroyed in some areas - particularly Syria and Iraq - because poor

drainage means waterlogging and

increasing salination. Uneg estimates

that over halfthe area of irrigated land

in dry areas of Arab West Asia suffer

from salinity.

The verdict that we are the culprits

carries with it an element of hope, for if

we are responsible we may be able to

arrest and even reverse the disastrous

trend. Some Arab countries are making

considerable efforts to combat desertification, and these will be reviewed in

a later issue ofEvents. But as Unep's Dr

Nahhal points out: "We are still in the

first phase of implementation, and we

need time to see positive results from

the measures taken." There is certainly

a long way to go before the tide is

turned.

The economic folly of short-sighted

environmental abuse of this kind is

relatively clear - and its results have

been made painfully manifest. So it is

not surprising that there is some degree

of official recognition of the problem,

and that governments see it as in their

interests to tackle it. But the situation

is far less clear-cut and the apathy

much greater when it cornes to more

general development-linked environmental issues such as pollution and

conservation, where there is no conclusive economic argument in favour of

respect for the environment. On the

contrary, there is a marked tendency to

see environmental considerations in

these areas as an unnecessary hindrance to development, particularly

when they cost money without any

noticeable return.

As well as being evident in day-to-day

decision-making on development projects, this tendency to think in terms of

"development versus environment"

also surfaces in the Middle East's second biggest environmental problem

area, the pollution of its three regional

seas - the Mediterranean, the Red Sea

and the Gulf.

Unep began focusing its attention on

the Mediterranean shortly after the

inception of this youngest and poorest

UN agency at the Stockholm conference

in 1972. There was a widespread fear r

that uncontrolled oil pollution and *''

dumping of industrial and municipal

waste might be killing the sea, which is

virtually enclosed and only flushes out

into wider oceans on a 70 or 80-year

cycle, and even then leaves behind surface pollutants.- Acting in its favoured

role as catalyst, Unep brought the

Mediterranean states (including Israel)

together to discuss their common problem, and this led to the adoption of the

."Mediterranean action plan" in Barcelona in 1975. >

The plan included three legal agreements - a general convention for the

protection of the Mediterranean

against pollution, and two protocols,

one for the prevention of pollution by

dumping from ships or aircraft, the

other covering cooperation in combatting emergency oil spill. It was

another year before the agreements

were actually signed, and two years

after that they had only been ratified by

the governments of six of the 18

Mediterranean states. Significantly, '

the swiftest concrete result of all the

talk was the establishment in 1976 of

art oil spill control centre in Malta. The

Torrey Canyon and other major tanker

disasters had underlined the dangers,

and it clearly made sense to take out

some kind of insurance policy against

the risk. »

But studies have shown that chronic

oil pollution from daily operations -

"Plastic bottles and tin

cans litter some of the

most beautiful parts

of the Arab world"

accorded a lower priority - are in fact a

much more serious threat to the sea

than accidental pollution, which represents only a minor contribution to the

overall input. And the possibly more

serious question of pollution from

land-based sources has so far eluded

agreement at the whole series of

Mediterranean meetings, although a

26
protocol was worked out over three

years ago. There is some hope that the

agreement may finally be signed next

year.

The delay reflects a clash of interests

between the developing and the industrialised Mediterranean states, as weH

as a degree of environmental disregard

on the part of the mainly Arab developing countries, led by Algeria. The latter

are resisting pollution controls on their

growing industries, for the simple

reason that they cost money and would

thus put their industrial output at a

competitive disadvantage to that of

the European states which provide

the expansive pollution control equipment.

Unep is trying to persuade the industrialised countries to help developing

countries by providing the equipment

cheaply, but this amounts to asking

them to help industrialise their market

competitors. Interestingly, the issue did

not arise in subsequent efforts to reach

similar agreements in the homogeneous Gulf area, where the Arab states

and Iran signed treaties in April this

year pledging control on pollution from

all sources, including land-based ones.

The developing countries' stand in

the Mediterranean debate amounted to

saying: "Let us industrialise first, and

then come and talk to us about the environment"- an attitude which Unep and

other concerned bodies, such as the

Arab League's Economic, Cultural and

Scientific Organisation (ALESCO),

come across again and again in their

efforts to foster "environmentally sound

development."

"Ninety-nine per cent of thinking

people here are development-minded,

and only a handful are concerned about

the environment," said one Arab ecologist. "If development is to succeed in the

long term, it must take environmental

considerations into account. Development and environment go hand in hand.

The initial misunderstanding - that

they are opposing factors - stems from

the demands of industrialists or governments looking no further than the

immediate future."

Environmental consciousness in the

West is only recent and we can perhaps

isolate two main reasons for its

emergence. Uncontrolled pollution had

reached a limit where it was rebounding on its authors in a way they could

not ignore - smog clouds, mercurypoisoned fish, and a "silent spring," an

absence of wildlife. Second, these

societies had reached a level of affluence where the phrase "the quality of

life" took on an aesthetic and spiritual

dimension rather than a purely physical one. In other words, they could

care about the aesthetics of their surroundings because they had achieved

the basics of a comfortable life.

What environmentalists are asking

ofthe Middle East and the Third World

in general is to jump a stage which the

western world went through over

"Let us industrialise

first, and then come

and talk to us about

the environment"

decades of pollution-ridden development. This is something new, and helps

to explain why the environmentalists'

task is so difficult.

"If we continue our industrialisation

in the same style as the industrialised

world, we will always be left behind,"

says Nadia Saad, deputy director of

Unep's regional office for West Asia.

"We are trying to evolve alternative

patterns of development for the region

and a new lifestyle,so that development

is geared not just to increased production but to improving the quality of

life of the people. Economists used to

believe they were thinking long-term

when they planned 15 year's ahead,-but

wehave to planforfutu re generations."

In practical terms, this means a continuous effort to persuade governments

and dejcision-makers to take environmental considerations into account for

the long-term good of everybody, and to

convince them that environmental concern is not aimed at arresting development, but at keeping its impact on

natural balances within acceptable

bounds.

27
Apart from hostility and suspicion in

some quarters, the main problem which

the environmentalists face in this

respect is sheer indifference and lack of

awareness among officials as well as the

public. In many Arab countries, for

example, there are no restrictions on

the import and the use of toxic pesticides, some of which are banned in

their country of origin. Some maritime

Arab states have no laws prohibiting

the pumping-out of contaminated

ballast- and bilge-water, and are thus

attracting gratuitous pollution as well

as buying it as a concomitant of

development. In other cases, laws exist

but are simply not enforced.

Official apathy may reflect a concern

with more pressing problems. Lebanon,

for example, may have to choose between spending money on improving its

sewage systems or rebuilding destroyed

villages. But it also reflects (and helps

to shape) a massive indifference which

Unep and others are trying to change

through information campaigns, since

public pressure groups are an important component in influencing government decisions.

Public awareness is also vital if

environmental laws are to be obeyed as

well asjust enacted, since strict policing

is rarely possible. At present, consciousness in most areas is very low. In

Lebanon, which likes to think of itself

as the most sophisticated Arab country,

parents let their children swim in a sea

sometimes so fouled that it looks like an

undulating garbage dump. Which it is.

Plastic bottles and tin cans litter many

of the most beautiful and remote parts

of the Arab world.

Perhaps these are aesthetic concerns

which can be brushed aside in the rush

for development. Perhaps it does not

matter that many of the region's most

interesting wildlife species have either

been wiped out or are on the verge of

extinction at the hands of motorised

hunters with automatic weapons. But

there are atleast some concerned Arabs

- and even a few rulers - who believe

that environmental concern is indivisible. They are striving to save the

area's natural heritage from oblivion so

that future generations can enjoy it, in

the beliefthatthe aim ofdevelopment is

not just to survive but also to live a

decent life.

CSO: 5000

28
ETHIOPIA

DETAILS ON REFORESTATION PROJECT GIVEN

Safeguards for Forests

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 4 Aug 78 pp 1, 5

[Text] "This national forest, that covers an area of 80 gashas or 3,200

hectares was mercilessly exploited by very few individuals and members

of the discredited feudo-bourgeois ruling class, prior to the 1975 rural

land proclamation."

This was stated by Ato Teshome Damitienn, head of the Forestry and Wildlife

Authority in Kaffa administrative region.

He wont on, it was named after a certain

Bellete, who was a fugitive of the former

government and took refuge in the forest.

It is known that such natural forests

abound in Illubabor, Bale, Sidatno, Wollega administrative regions and generally

in Southern and Southwestern Ethiopia.

Other such forests in Kaffa are Tiro and

Gera forests it was learned.

Ato Yevvend-Wosen Tsigie-Mariam, public relations officer of the Forestry and

Wildlife Authority also noted that, in the

natural forest the old trees ore cut down

and replaced by planting new ones. This

prevents the loss of the smaller irres that

are crushed in case, the older ones fall on

their own. Ato Dejenic Gczahegne, the

workers' representative also indicated

that, since 1975, an area of four pashas

or 160 hectares of land baa been planted.

The tree seedling include. 13 typ*" of 6UC"

alyptus, one local and 4 foreign types of

cedar. He further noted that, prior to

1975, the trees were cut indiscriminately

hy the self-centered exploiters.The masses

around here were not allowed even to cut

a branch. At present, the indiscriminate

cutting is replaced by controlled cutting.

The workers' representative continued

that there are 387 workers, of which 60

are permanent and 277 are seasonal, and

due to the nature of the work, they are

not organized. There are guards to safeguard the forest from being cut down. If

anybody is found cutting a tree without

perimission, he would be held and reported to the nearest peasants' association.

Let alone cutting down trees, they eve»

do not allow people around there to hang

bee-hives in the forest.

Ato Yewend-Wosen explained that, if a

bee-hive is hanged, that means the time

honey is ready, the owner baa to come

with something smoking to drive away

the bees inorder to get the honey. Negligence might occur and result in fire in

the forest.

29
Reserved for the Rainy Seasons

Since the forest is on an all —- weather

road, there is no transportation problem,

Dejenie further noted. Therefore, the forest is used as a reserve. It is learned that

there are about 599 peasants who have

settled in the middle of the forest. The

is an attempt going on to arrange with

the Settlement Authority to settle these

people to some other places.

Ato Dejenie also said that the peasants

relate they had bought the piece of land

from the former owners. This shows how

the capitalists were mwciless to the forest.

Asked if the workers there had any

problem, Dejenie said earlier they did

not get salary on lime, but at present,

there is no such problem. The only problem is that of monkeys and rats. The

monkeys jump on the trees and then

either bend or break them. The rats bite

off the barks of the trees, especially cedar

trees, and this leaves the trees dry.

Of the trees in the natural forest,

"Kerero" and "liquor Inchet" (Black

Wood) are dominant. The "Kerero" eould

not be planted and grown from seedlings

unless it naturaly grows on its own.

Therefore, the "Kerero" must be handled

with much more care, Dejenie concluded.

Reforestation in Adeola

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 5 Aug 78 p 6

[Text] About 1,300 youngsters, kebele office-bearers and members of the

revolution defence squad of Higher 1 launched a day-long afforestation campaign Thursday in the vicinity of the town of Adeola, Zuqual district

90 kms south of here.

The campaign which was sponsored by Higher kebele [in italics] 1 was organized

with the aim of simultaneously engaging the youth of the area in development

activities and arresting the decimation of the country's forest resources.

Dynamic Force

During the day-long intensive plantation campaign, about 21,000 seedlings

were planted on a vast tract of eroded land.

In a welcome speech, the chief of agricultural development in the area

thanked the campaigners for their genuine dedication to participate in this

constructive and worthful endeavour. He said that the now-discredited feudobourgeois regime and the members of the aristocracy had not only exploited

the labour of the broad masses; but also the natural rich wealth of the

country. He said that the forest potential of Ethiopia, which have been

indiscriminately destroyed in the past should be replaced by launching

similar large-scale afforestation campaigns.

30
In a brief statement, Comrade Ergete Medibew, chairman of Higher kebele 1

said that the youngsters who were hitherto misled by the counterrevolutionary

machinations of the self-styled Trotskyte EPRP have now joined the revolution's camp.

The youngsters who are the new dynamic and energetic force of the revolution

are unreservedly participating in the bitter class struggle, which is

presently being waged between the revolutionary and reactionary camps,

Comrade Ergete stressed.

During the campaign, members of the peasants' and women's associations

have also participated in the plantation campaign.

Swedish Ambassador Praises Efforts

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 8 Aug 78 p 3

[Text] Swedish Ambassador, to Revolutionary Ethiopia, Mr. Bengt

Friedman, said that the masses are doing a great lob in the nation-wide afforestation campaign and added that he was highly impressed by the enthusiasm of the broad masses.

The Ambassador also stated that since

afforestation could not he carried out

only by a single institution, participation

of the masses is indespensable, and that

br is glad to see this taking place here.

In an on-the-field interview during

afforestation campaign in which 6 institutions with a total af about 1,500 people

participated the Ambassador disclosed

this to a group of journalists' Sunday.

Participants were from the Ethiopian

Postal Service, Vaskin Wood Industry,

Ethiopian Roads Authority, Higher 3

youth, Rift. Valleys Agricultural Development Authority, and temporary

employees of the Rental Houses Administration.

It was further pointed out that the

last group of participants took part in

the campaign on their own initiative,

and although they were unable to- get

aid from the institution they work in,

they contributed money and hixed buses

to come to field. Later, they were driven

back to Addis with the authority'» vehicles, it was learned. During the day-long

campaign, thousands of holes were dug

on an area of about ten to fifteen hectares, and more than 20,000 seedling»

were planted on about eight hectares.

Mr. Gote Lidvali, the Swedish Coordinator in the Forestry and Wildlife

Authority stated that, people must be

31
educated about importance of forestry

and the use of forests and the teaching

must begin in schools. Mr. Lidvall added

that, there are twenty Ethiopians studying forestry at the Wondo Gennef,

Forest Kesources Institute and it is hoped that the number will be raised to

ihirty during the coming year. Speaking

about the Swedish in.siruclors, he said

that the lecturers at the Institute have

taught 20 to 30 years in various parts of

Africa and have broad knowledge of the

subject matter.

Asked about the condition of trees

brought from Sweden and planted here,

the coordinator said that, the trees growhere at n tremendous rate. It takes them

50-6(.) years to fully grow in Sweden.,

whereas, it only requires thirty five years

bere. Eucalyptus grows, i» Sweden in

fifteen years time while it takes

only four years here, it was shtted. Woüo

and Tigray regions were pointed out as

areas thai need urgent and massive

afforestation campaign.

Ambassador Friedman further noted

that, the Sv-dish Government has similar programme« to launch afforestation

campaign ia Tanzania, Zambia, and in

Mozambique. In conclusion he said that,

good results are obtained in Ethiopia

and added that the largest project "is of

' course the lumber project in Vietnam".

— Staff Reporter

CSO: 5000

32
USSR

PROBLEMS OF THE RIVER OM1

Missing Link

Omsk ZEMLYA SIBIRSKAYA, DAL'NEVOSTOCHNAYA in Russian No 1, Jan 78 pp 60-61

LArticle by I. F. Odintsov and V. A. Motovilov, outside correspondents]

[Text] The kolkhozes and sovkhozes of Priom'ye are rich in wheat fields and

fat herds. They produce hundreds of thousands of tons of bread, meat, and

dairy products. The water resources make it possible to look at the development of the farms from another view point. It is known that where there

is water-- there is fish. What is the attitude here towards this problem?

We travelled from the mouth to the middle of the course of the Ora* and were

convinced: the villagers do not have enough fish to eat even for themselves.

Conversations with the directors of the farms, local Soviets,and party workers

revealed a single opinion: fishing is not an obstacle to anyone. The demand

for fresh water fish is great, and the conditions for catching it are present

in practically every riverside village.

The enormous branches of the 0*bow lakes, the deep ravines, valleys and

channels stretch for kilometers along and across the floodplain joining with

the vast gullies which cut the high river banks. Nature as though was

concerned whether man without special difficulty could benefit. But the flows

of snow and rain water so necessary to the dry valley coast uselessly flow

down the slopes, remove from the fields thousands of tons of fertile soil,

erode the gullies, and fill in the riverbed. Stop and retain this mass of

vernal floods, and you will soak the soil with moisture, the surrounding air,

and the currently barren hectares will be covered with succulent grasses.

"And stock such reservoirs with fish, " dreams out loud the chief agronomist

of the Ust'-Tarskiy rayon production administration of agriculture of the

Novosibirskaya oblast, V. P. Noskov. But he sighs, "But something does not

turn out for us."

Many specialists with whom we had to converse are worried about the annual

increase in salinization of the riverside soils. They know that one of the

methods for avoiding this predicament--creation of fishing ponds with the

organization of crop meadows and pastureland. Here is how the interlocutors

themselves speak of this.

33
"We don't have the fish," the chairman of the kolhoz "Oktyabr,,, of the

Kormilovskiy rayon of the Omskaya oblast S. N. Bandur admits.

Summer has arrived and Semen Nikitich is concerned that the hay does not

spoil under the rains. For the sown grasses have been raised by the

kolhoz members with such love on the irrigated fields!

"There is a great desire to raise fish," states the director of Khomutinskiy

sovkhoz of the Omskaya oblast G. L. Garanin. "We have already put carp into

the lake. The only trouble is that we do everything blindly: none of our

specialist know what the fish need and how to keep them. "

"We do not have any specialists that know this, " also grieves the secretary of the party committee of the Kozinskiy sovkhoz of the Novosibirskaya

oblast A. Ye. Plaksin. "Here in this lake," indicated Arkadiy Yegorovich

at the enormous horseshoe river <>xbow lake spreading over the central farm,

"already once they have put carp. But all of them died."

He was silent, thinking about something, and concluded indecisively:

"From that viewpoint a reservoir is somewhat better for the village. Insignificant outlays, and you will pull in cases of living silver."

Today it is not necessary to convince either the farmer or the party leader

that pond fishing is a necessary and profitable affair. There is already a

vcv graphic example in the sovkhoz "Razdol • nyy" on the Altay, where a blue

hechte of previously unusable area provides pure profit 5-10 times greater

than a hectare of the best pasture land. Thousands of hectares of drained

ponds produce a perceptible profit also in other Siberian farms. The question of resources is not a problem today. But there are no specialists, therefore such a situation exists not only in the Kozinskiy and Khoautinskiy 6ovkhozes. For example the heavy carp went out into the Om1 from the primitive reservoir in the Sfcherbakovskiy sovkhoz of the Ust•-Tarkskiy rayon of

the Novosibirskaya oblast. Many times attempts were made to stock the small

flood plain rivers by certain farms in the Kalachinskiy and Kormilovskiy

rayons of the Omskaya oblast. This valuable branch of agricultural production has not taken root anywhere.

Fishing in Siberia is a new and rather troublesome matter. Moreover it is

not known whether it will bring profit to farming or not. For a number of

important officials, unfortunately, still have the tenacious viewpoint that

pisciculture is recreation.

"There is no plan for the fish. This is not grain or meat, and not milk,"

we were told by almost every director of farms or rayons. A lot still remains

in the consciousness of the Siberians of the century-old idea of fish as a

natural gift. Is that not why in Ust'-Tarka, although modestly, they told

us:

"We mainly catch Crucian carp. But now they have made the lakes shallow,

and the people near the Om" have overrun the area so we have been forced to

go fishing in the Vengerovskiy rayon."

3h
And the people of Ust'-Tarka go to Vengerovo, while the people of Nizhneomskiy

those of Kalachlnsk, and Kormilovka go to Ust'-Tarka. They go although they

repeat over and over in one voice that the condition for fishing on the 0m'

are excellent for all.

"Amateur fishing should be encouraged in every way and assisted by the

stocking of lakes," convincingly states the head of the Nizhneomskiy rayon

agricultural administration of the Omskaya oblast I. N. Mikhaylyuk. "But

they do not give us stocking material. They say the ponds are not draining."

"The directors of the farms have an amazing pull towards amateur pisciculture,"

says with surprise the deputy director of the production association " Omskrybprom" K. S. Anponova. "They go and almost all beg for the Amur Crucian

carp because it is good to catch on a fishing rod."

The systemless fishing of the "lovers" of lakes, and at times the incompetent use of toxic chemicals and mineral fertilizers on the fields have

destroyed them. Some understand this, and are making modest attempts to

revive the lakes by stocking them with fry of valuable fish. This is not

bad. But amateur fishing nevertheless is not commercial production, and it

cannot satisfy even the intrarayon demand for this product. Large kolhozes

and sovkhozes farm on the shores of a large river which from the Vasyugan'ye

itself brings them its waters, but they do not completely use this great

natural gift: they underproduce for the people many tons of good quality

products.

But how in these krays do they think to respond to the resolution of the

CEGU Central Committee "on the organizational work of the Tyumen' party

obkom for mobilization of production collectives, scientists, and specialists

of the fishing industry to increase in the reservoirs of the oblast the

supplies of commercial fish and their better use"? How do the neighbors of

the people of Tyumen' plan to introduce their experience? They could not

show us any plans or projects. But here and in another place, in the

Kraznozerskiy rayon of the Novosibirskaya oblast located considerably to

the south of Priom'ye we obtained an answer to our questions.

The sovkhoz "Sibir"' of this rayon also farms in the flood plain, only

considerably smaller than the Om1, the river Karasyuk. Four years ago at

one section a small pond farm was created. And already in 1975 12 centners

of fish were obtained from a hectare of their "blue virgin soil." This year

more than a million home-grown fry have been produced. Today in the farm a

spawning ground, nursery, fattening, and wintering ponds are operating.

All this has been created due to the energy of honored agronomist of the

RSFSR, the director of the sovkhoz I. Z. Novichikhin. His enthusiasm met

a response among his collective and in the rayon. This interesting and

useful proposal was supported by the first secretary of the CPSU raykom,

Hero of Socialist Labor V. I. Korobeynikov. The initiative of the people

of Kraznozerskiy was approved by the obkom of the party and the oblispolkom

[^regional executive committee].

How in the sovkhoz a plan is being realized for the construction of pond

farming of the first phase costing 1.5 million R. Over 800,000 have

already been accepted by the Krasnozerskiy PMK trust "Ifeliovodstroy."

With the completion of the construction of the entire complex the sovkhoz

35 . «.
will have 1,500 ha of fishing ponds, and will produce 2,000 T of fish per

year. Speaking of the future of pisciculture the head of the rayon administration of agriculture I.E. Aksent'yev convincingly announces:

"We are for the production association."

"Interfarm relationships," the sovkhozpisciculturist V. T. Zonov repeats

will intensify our potentialities. And if the neighboring reservoirs are *

stocked with fish one can fish under the ice and the workers will be involved

in production year round." The sovkhoz thought beforehand of the training

of specialists. A number of scholarship students are studying at the

institutes. The farm has permitted its pisciculturist to become familiar

with the experiments of the best farms involved with obtaining commercial

fish. Vitally Tikhonovich has also visited the Tyumenskaya oblast. In order

to develop industrial pisciculture in natural res«rvoire hydrological studies

are necessary, and often laboratory data to solve unexpectedly developing

problems are necessary. But the laboratories, like the residences for the

workers and the specialists, is the second phase of construction of the ponds,

and there are still no plans. The pond farm needs, for example, powerful

pumps and other mechanisms, fishing tackle, special feed...but where to get

their nonexistent legal organization? The workers of the sovkhoz "Sibir'"

are going to search for that which is needed. For this reason they received

the food for the fish a whole month late, and these are lost tons of valu-

^t.^"^' And tbere are stlU lots of other troublesome questions for

which the farmer involved in grain and meat and dairy production does not

have enough time!

The legal formation of an interfarm association would accelerate the solution not only the aforementioned questions, but also a number of other no

less important ones in organizational respect.

The river Ora» is a large body in the state water management. And in its

nature the water management of the country is generally complex. The diversion of the waters of this river merely for everyday needs and for irrigation far from meet the requirements of the complexity of its use. A very

important link-production for the population of a valuable protein productfish falls from the sphere of economic activity.

Amateur pisciculturd already proved in the examples we gave its unsoundness.

Commercial pisciculturecon the Om« requires only an industrial basis and str ct

specialization. Specialized farms not associated with other concerns could

more successfully overcome the developing problems. And most important, they

could with great economic effectiveness conduct intensive pond production, by

also using the lakes for one year fattening of rapidly growing fish species.

For this purpose the reservoirs existing in the valley of the river are

suitable, while the drain ponds can be constructed in a short period for the

riverside flows, deep ravines and gullies. They can easily be filled with

water at anytime and rapidly emptied with the realization of the product.

36
In an organizational respect, in our opinion, this is in the power only

of the interfarm association, which will work on the reservoir of the

riverside farms. It is easier for the kolhozes and the sovkhozes through

such cooperation to unite their forces in the construction of a pond farm

of the optimal dimensions, for the introduction of new technology, and the

use of more progressive forms in the organization of production.

One can object: In each oblast associations of the "Rybprom" are operating,

why create new ones? We will listen to the representatives of the pisciculturists themselves on this account.

'In our Podstepkinskiy pond farm 500 ha in area in 5 years the production

of carp has increased more than tenfold," states Klavdiya Stepanovna

Antonova. "But the fish ration of the village has almost not increased. We

supply the pond fish to the main plant collectives of Omsk which give us help.

In order for every villager and all the townspeople to have fish the kolkhozes

and sovkhozes must themselves be involved in this." We attentively examine the

intricate incubation system and are still more convinced: this is troublesome work only for the specialized interfarm association where the important

role will be played by the specialists of high qualification.

COPYRIGHT: Zhurnal "Zemlya sibirskaya, dal'nevostochnaya", 1978

Shoaling

Omsk ZEMLYA SIBIRSKAYA, DAL«NEVOSTOCHNAYA in Russian No 2, Feb 78 pp 59.6©

[_ Article by I. F. Odintsov and V. A. Motovilov, outside correspondents]

"*{*'

[_Text] The Om'. How little water there is in its high gully-swamp shores.

We are standing with the head of the Kalachinskiy production administration

of agriculture A. P. Danilov at the irrigation water intake, and we see

exposed pumping pipes. The mind persistently turns to the characteristics

of the Om' read the day before in a geographical statistical dictionary for

1867: the river has sloping banks and is fairly full of water, with a

width from 30-42 sagenes and depth up to four meters. "In spring the Om'

overflows strongly, drowns the coastal meadows, and at this time along it

from the mouth of the Tartas float up to 2,000 rafts of timber: cedar,

pine, larch, birch, asp...the fall of the river is very slight, and the

current slow." But now...

"It is catastrophically becoming shallow," breaks the silence Aleksandr

Pavlovich. "The Om' urgently needs the Irtysh water."

I glanced at my companion. Thickset, bare headed, sympathetically suffering

look, concerned frown--he was very much like a doctor at the bed of a

serious patient.

"This means only an 'infusion.' Is there no other salvation?"

"Only," he answered with assurance. "It is necessary to force this project."

37
The idea of diverting Irtysh water to the Om« was publicized through the

newspaper OMSKAYA PRAVDA 5 May, 1972 by Doctor of Geographical Sciences

D. N. Fialkoy. And here we are in his department of engineering geodesy of

the Sib ADI .[V. V. Kuybyshev Siberian Highway Institute].

"It goes without saying," says the professor, "the direction of the Irtysh

water along the rivers Achairka and Tarbuga into the Cm« not only will make

it deep, but also will irrigate 40,000 ha of land of the interfluve."

"It is planned to empty the water of the Ob' along the 0m« with a "turn"

of the Siberian rivers into the Aral steppes," reassuringly also informs

us the honored scientist of the RSPSR, professor of the Omsk agricultural

institute V. S. Mezentsev.

Large scale plans. But nevertheless they cannot dislodge the concerns of the

farmers. And they can hardly dislodge them, because they are directed

towards the causes, that is the actual shoaling of the river. But they do

not touch at all the reasons for this catastrophe. And the reasons are so

diverse and so strong that they uncovered not only shoals in a once deep

bed, but also produced degradation of the entire river basin. "The ridges

are losing humus," we are obliged to hear many times from the workers of

field crop cultivation. This phrase was also dropped by A. E. Denilov in

our conversation when speaking of water and wind erosion of soils of

Eriom»ye.

Our boat touched the massive pontoon where powerful pumps are at rest. These

drink water from the river and spill it a rate of 510 liters per second to

the vast fields of the drowned river valley irrigation in the sovkhoz "Uval^skiy"

of the Tatarskiy rayon of the Novosibirskaya oblast. Such a complex is the

first on the Ora«. But judging by how joyfully the specialists of other farms

respond to it, it is necessary to think that this progressive method of stable

fodder production will take root for them also. A similar irrigation system

is already being constructed in the neighboring Sherbakovskiy sovkhoz of the

Ust'-Tarka rayon of the Novosibirskaya oblast, and the people of Nizhneomsk

are also talking about the same.

At the pumping units the attendant A. I. Klimenko is anxiously examining his

marks on the muddy washout. He is concerned with the rapid fall of the

water:

"Summer has not been here for 10 days and the water is dropping! Another

week and the diversion will be empty. I cannot think how to pump to the

second irrigation." i '

He glances questioningly at us, then turns a side glance towards the steep

slope where the grazing herd appears variegated. The hot sun scorches the

earth, on the bare coast the dwarfed vegetation has become yellow, the

young crops have languished and drooped, and on the high shores beaten down

by the cattle dust columns are billowing. And the earth, and the green

38
fields, and the pastureland--all need water. For it enormous yokes of water

intakes have been stretched to the 0m* from nearly all the riverside farms,

and their number is increasing with each year. The peculiarity of the aridness of the Siberian summer, and the possibility of increasing the products

of plant growing have included this small river into the technological chain

of agricultural production. Thus the On1 in the national economy has become

a river that is not at all small. Over 120 settlements in 10 rayons of the

Omskaya and Novosibirskaya oblasts are gifted with its waters. Its catchment

area occupies half of the entire area of the lucrative Baraba. And if one

takes into consideration that on the lands of the Ob'-Irtysh flow are

located wore than a quarter of the country4s workable plowed fields, while

the Barabinsk steppe is actively drying up, then the role of this so-called

small river is inestimable.

"Two crops of brome grass on the irrigated lands gave us over four tons of

excellent hay from a hectare," the chairman of the kolkhoz "Put1Lenina" of

the Kalachinskiy rayon G. S. Nechipurenko confirms this thought. Gennadiy

Sergeevich smiles contentedly and we understand his mood. For from this,

"still yesterday" unirrigated land the kolkhoz with difficulty scraped up

only a tenth of this. All the farms on the irrigated Prio;n*ye receive a

considerable supplement. In providing fodder to the growing livestock the

specialists place great hopes precisely on the irrigated pasturelands and

hay meadows. But the debit of water is small, and its level in the river is

dropping with each year.

Back in 1941 the high waters in the Om» almost reached the 11 m mark. The

drop lasted in the middle and lower courses to the middle of September. But

now already by July its level has dropped almost to the low line» The period

of such water shortage has lasted with insignificant fluctuations since 1953.

The hydrological pattern of the river has been destroyed. The climate factor

and human activity are the causes in the opinion of scientists, and in particular Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor Mezentsev.

It has been established that 10,000 km2of deciduous forest give back to the

rivers during a year 0.3-0.5 km3of water, while the same area of taiga

and more--up to 0.8 km3. The deep water of the river On' lowland came from

the vast swamps and forests. As early as the 18th-19th centuries, according

to the testimony of contemporaries and researchers, along the entire right

bank of the Om' beginning from the mouth indigenous birch and asp forests grew.

And ensign Uksusnikov who marked the route for the road through Baraba in 1755

reported to the authorities that "there are many uninhabited places for

settlement along the Om« river where there is sufficient birch forests suitable for construction and fire wood." Twelve years later this was confirmed

in the descriptions of the Barabinsk steppe by the head of the engineering

expedition General Malm. (A.D. Kolesnikov, "Russkoye naseleniye Zap. Slbiri

18th-19th w" Ohe population of West Siberia in the 18th-19th centuries

Zap.-Sib. Kn. Izd., 1973).

Since under the cover of the forest "the ratio of the quantity of precipitation to the quantity of evaporated water is greater than a unit" (Vtorov

and Drozdov, 1976), the right tributaries, judging by their deep channels

39
and wide shores, collected in their wooded basins the abundance of the excess

water and filled the parent river with them. Now both the Tarbuga, and the

Achairka, and the Tarka have essentially died like the tributaries.

The riverside birch groves that have become settled with farming activity

have grown thinner. The average extent of the forests in the lower Priom*ye

now only equal 9.5%. Other figures are also stunning.

"If one excludes the swamps located in the basin of the Om'," states Professor

Mezentsev leafing through bulky references, "then our plowed fields comprise

70% of the water catchment area, and the extent of forests--only 20. Only

in the Novosibirskaya oblast from 1935 to 1968 360,000 ha of 0m« swamp

flow were dried... *

Of course for a river of swamp origin which is fed by means of precipitation and primarily snow, this could not occur without any trace. From

here it is evident: a gross violation of ecological interrelationships

in the Om« basin also resulted in its shoaling. For the 0m» according to

the annual distribution of water is a river with a dominance of a spring

flow. The systemless reduction in forests in the riverbed shore, in the

upper reaches of the river, and in its tributaries, in the ancient ravine

and gully-swamp sections, the replacement of the natural vegetation on the

slopes with crops, and the plowing of the shores eliminated the possibilities

for the accumulation of waters of the spring flow in the water intake,

increased evaporation, and finally intensified the wind and water erosion of

the soils, and resulted in silting of the bed.

Now we are witnesses of a sad spectacle. Since the start of spring the flows

of snow melt water with nothing to hold them rush down the slopes thus washing

away and carrying off valuable humus and colloidparticles of the soil. The

river swells, and with a strong current undermines the shore thus forming

slides and heaps, and crumbling the soil from the riverside terraces.

Along the entire course of the 0m« from Usf-Tarka to Omsk we observed many

traces of water erosion. Only on the territory of the Nizhneomskiy and

Kalachinskiy rayons we counted over two dozen growing coastal gullies, and

almost as many new heaps and slides. There are many fresh washouts and

gullies on the pastureland in the settlements of Pötanin, Zotino, Polovinka,

Andreyevka, and Novomoskovka. According to the testimony of candidate of

agricultural sciences Y. R. Reyngard who has studied soil erosion in the

lower Priom'ye the high shores of the river are a special concern. They are

exposed to wind and water erosion in the 1.5 km strip along both sides of

the riverbed, and gullies are formed even 7-8 km from the Om' along the

slopes of ridges and ancient hollows.

"According to my calculations," states Yakov Romanovich, "individual hectares

lose up to 150 T of fertile soil a year."

ko
A lot of it is washed into the river by downpours and spring deep water.

According to the data of the Omsk administration of the hydrometeorological

service (P. V. Borisov, 1968), the annual removal of the flow of suspended

particles at the city of Kalachinsk equals 210,000 T, and in 1947 it reached

even 630,000. If one takes into account that at Kuibyshev this volume is

only 28,000 T, then it is easy to be convinced how the degradation of the

soil is progressing towards the mouth of the Om', that is in the lower

portion of its water catchment area. Precisely here is the most modest

percentage of forestation. It is difficult to overestimate the protective

importance of the forest in which the soil does not freeze through as much,

the melting of the snow is three weeks longer, and the "dying" land rapidly

absorbs the snow melt water. The forest retains also the surface flow of

downpours, and transmits it within the soil. And as science has proved this

reduces the danger of flooding, and maintains the deep water in the rivers

which have filled during the summer with underground water.

But the rivers which only with 25-30% of the total territory can play the

optimal water saving and water regulating role have been seriously thinned

out. Swamps--these unique sponges which in the "wet" year absorb the excess

moisture, and in the "dry" years give back to the rivers, have been significantly dried up. The gully-swamp ravines where the underground waters come

to the diurnal surface, as well as the shores of the reservoirs are exposed--

intensive evaporation is occurring. It is known that every 10% of wooded

area governs the fall into this region of 4% additional summer precipitation

(Vtorov and Drozdov, Moscow, 1976). And we curse the drought which in the

Siberian forest steppe generally covers the first half of the summer for

doing enormous damage to the harvest 1 '

Plants require a lot of water during the vegetative period. It can be taken

from the spring flood water. Until the July rains it is capable of maintaining the moisture in the soil and of filling the reservoirs. It is necessary only to turn the surface flow into an intrasoil flow where underground

waters will be accumulated, and then the river sources will be stopped up.

Thus we see that filling the 0m' with foreign waters from other rivers will

do little to change this. Water and wind erosion will continue to do immeasurable damage to the riverside soils that have been exposed by farming. This

is why today the problem of the water content of such an important river in

agricultural production cannot be separated from the problem of preserving

the fertility of the soils of Priom'ye. Their solution is possible only in

a complex since the river and the lands adjacent to it comprise a single,

living natural organism.

We have named many consequences of the development of the 0m' basin against

the laws of life of this organism--shoaling of the river, erosion of soils,

and so forth. We will only stress that to farm without considering nature

is fatal not only for it but primarily for we ourselves. In the upper

reaches of the Om' the swamps have been dried, and it is planned to turn them

into plowed fields. The river thus will be deprived of a water source.

However: "of the 360,000 ha of dried swamps," states Professor Mezentsev,

"300,000 have lost their agricultural value." "After drying they are rapidly

i+1
converted to solonchaks unsuitable for use since many of our swamps are

located in solonchak depressions," Doctor of agricultural sciences N. Z.

Milashchenko completes the characteristics. "Of course, this could be avoided,

if the question of the use of the raised swamps was decided not only by the

engineers and land developers, but the scientists of different professions

who would determine the most rational means for the development."

And so it is quite evident that without a knowledge of the natural interrelationships between the river, the forest, the soil, and so forth, without

the development of the further farming activity of scientific recommendations

based on such knowledge, concentrated, say in a single general plan for the

use of the river and the adjacent locality,we will not win the crisis of

the 0m' basin. It is evident further that the initiative in the development

of such a plan can only be based on the ispolkom of the sovietg ©f the

of the Novosibirskaya and Omskaya oblasts, for control over the rational use

of natural resources has been placed by our legislature on the Soviets of

People's Deputies. Only they have the power to unite in solving this problem the specialists of different fields of science: soil scientists, hydrologists, biologists, foresters, economists, sociologists, and so forth in

order to make a comprehensive study of the question of a complex seientifically justified use of the entire Om* basin.

In solving such a problem we already have important experience. The interoblast committee for Desna in the Bryanskaya oblast has approved the resolution of the RSFSR Council of Ministers "on the work of the soviet and

water management organs of the Bryanskaya oblast for the protection and

rational use of water resources" of 24 May 1977. In the Orlovskaya oblast

the sovkhoz "Saburovskiy" together with hydraulic engineering measures has

afforested the gullies, ravines, and slopes, having created on a scientific

basis new soil-protecting and water-preserving forests. And the fields have

begun to give harvests 2-3 times higher than before.

The critical situation on the Om* also requires such an approach.

COPYRIGHT: Zhumal "Zemlya sibirskaya, dal• nevostochnaya", 1978

Spots on the Water

Omsk ZEMLYA SIBIRSKAYA, DAL•NEVOSTOCHNAYA in Russian No 3, Mar 78 pp 60-61

LArticle by V. A. Motovilov and I. F. Odintsov, outside correspondents]

Text In the previous publications (No 1, No 2, 1978) we raised the questions of the rational use of the Om«, increase in its water content, and

preservation of the fertility of the soils of the Priom'ye. The cleanliness of the river water for the people of the riverside—a no less important

problem of today. Now the entry made 110 years ago in the geographical statistical dictionary will produce an ironically sad smile in each resident of

Priom'ye: "...the locality along which the Om» flows consists of excellent

B,eadOWiLthat alternate w"1» Picturesquely grouped groves of deciduous forest."

Or: "There are many hay meadows along the Om»."

k2
Now already at the beginning of summer instead of excellent meadows and hay

meadows the river meadows barely covered with sparse vegetation and many

pasture weeds are yellowing and are accessible to all the winds. And the

thinned and for the most part pitiful choppings trampled down by the grazing

cattle do not have even the remotest resemblance to those "picturesquely |

grouped groves " that not so long ago crowned the former beauty of the magnificent meadows. The wild fauna has also become impoverished. All of this is

a result of human activity in the process of which contamination of the environment occupies a prominent place. The opinion still exists that the selfcleaning capabilities of nature are limitless, and the river can easily cope

with any harmful effects on it. We will see how it copes.

From Omsk to Ust»-Tarka there is not one population point which is satisfactory

in sanitary conditions. One can see, for example, neat and cleanly swept '

village streets, but there is a lot of garbage in the settlements on the side

of the river, and mountains of manure in the villages and countryside of

Kozino, Chernyavino, Kirshovki, Staryy Revel' and others. A. M. Tint of the

kolkhoz "Pobeda" of the Kalachinskiy rayon of Omskaya oblast has spent his

whole life near the Om';his farm has been built on the 20 m shore. He, like

his neighbors, dumps manure and all domestic wastes from the steep shore

towards the river:

"We have been filling the shore for as many years as we have been living--

the water will wash away everything."

This is how not only the ordinary workers behave, but also the directors

and specialists of farms. On the shore there are the animal husbandry farms

of the Starodub section of the Kuybyshev sovkhoz (Omskaya oblast), the

fattening sovkhoz, and the sovkhoz "Kozinskiy" of the Ust'-Tarsky rayon of

the Novosibirskaya oblast. The manure accumulated during the winter is not

removed either by the spring or by the summer, it lies for years. During the

thawing of the snow or during rain turbid, reddish flows fall into the river.

And in the village of Bogdanovka, where the Kormilov fattening sovkhoz is

located, and in the Tavlozhan brigade of the kolkhoz "Put•Lenina" of the

Kalachinskiy rayon of the Omskaya oblast principle buildings and cattle

pens appeared quite recently. During the summertime here animals from the

healthy herd, as well as from defective graze on the shore and come to water.

In the middle of the 1960's in Kalachinsk a dairy plant was put into operation.

It was planned that the waste waters would go out onto the fields of irrigation, while the water that enters the coolers will be returned clean to

the river. Now the sanitation system operates as such that fields of the

Kuybyshev sovkhoz have been removed from crop rotation. And into the Ora'

daily over 100,000 m

3

of "conventionally clean" water are deposited, in which

the degree of contamination with fats and other organic additives is 10 times

higher than maximum permissible sanitary norms. The enterprise does not make

laboratory analysis of the water.

Petroleum products are the most harmful contaminants, and their contert in

the river increases each year. Very recently at the actual river the

Kalachinsk motor transport enterprise No 4 of the system "Transsel'khoztekhnika"

h3
was set up, however the territory here has already been cemented. The

drains have not been equipped. Often the treated oil is poured out directly

onto the ground and is carried by flows into the river.

Irrigated lands today are the pride of farms. But the farmers of these

systems have little concern for the cleanliness of the river water. We

examined several tens of water intakes along the course of the river, but we

did not see the proper order at the pumping stations.

"What is so dirty here?" *e asked the motor mechanic of the pumping station

of the Petril'ichev sovkhoz of the Nizhneomskiy rayon of the Omskaya oblast

A. Zhukov.

"Fuel remained for the winter in the tank, water fell, and in spring it

poured out onto the ground," he cooly answered.

No one is bothered by the fact that at the pumping station the pipeline from

the cistern to the motors has a poor hermetic seal, and solar oil streams

along the slope. The drip pans of the motors are overfilled, and mazut spots

float along the water. This would not have occurred, if the land developers

had a strict material accounting for environmental protection and saving of

fuel and lubricant materials. At the end of October of last year in the

mouth of Om' the water for an entire week was covered with multicolored

separations of petroleum products. This is how the land developers ended

the season. The damage had been done to the river--the dense hydrocarbon

film blocked the access of oxygen to the water right before the freeze-up.

And then it went to Irtysh...

Extensive damage to the flora and the fauna of the river is done by toxic

chemicals used in the farms. Flows of snow melt and rain waters carry from

the coastal fields toxic substances into the river, and in it destroy whole

communities of aquatic plants, fall into the plant and animal food, poison

the fish and the birds, and pollute the water, which is categorically forbidden by the water code of the RSFSR (article 97). The farmers of the farms

do not always have a prudent attitude towards the protection of the water

resources. On the fields of the Kulikov sovkhoz of the Kalachinskiy rayon

which is adjacent to the river several years ago after the use of herbicide

the leaves of the trees of the forest strips and the birch cuttings were

burned. Traces of the harmful effects are visible even now, but such a

method of using strong substances has not been condemned. Herbicides are used

near the river even now, even on irrigated lands from which streams of water

fall directly into the river. In 1978 it is planned to use herbicide in the

sovkhoz "Kulikovskiy" on irrigated lucerne. Therefore it is extremely necessary in each region to have a legalized scheme for forbidding the use of

pesticides in the flood plains of the rivers, lakes, swamps and ponds. We

are not speaking of a production reservoir, but of a source of drinking water.

Can the cleanliness of the river water be protected and its taste qualities

improved in the near future? As early as 1961 in his candidate dissertation

defended at Omsk Medical Institute D. N. Tarasevich on the basis of river

kk.
waters for the saturation of the microorganisms proposed setting up a sanitary zone of a second halt for protecting the river. The author of the dissertation considered it expedient to permit grazing of cattle no closer than 200

fron the shores, and to forbid watering directly fron the 0»». But these

reooonendations at yet have not been taken into ooaslaeration.

In the USSR the largest water catchment area of the Ob1 is 2.930 Billion kn2.

A part of this magnificent natural gift is the river On1. A part which we

see is far fron being clean... Our article "The liver is Shoaling...M

(No 2, 1978) raised the question of creating a general sehen* for the

rational use of the On1 basin» which would be the sane for the Novosibirskaya

and Oaskaya oblasts. The cleanliness of the river, strict sanitary control of

water intake and water discharge--this, in the opinion of the public, is one

of the important aspects for the development of such a system.

COPYRIGHT: Zburnal "Zenlya slbirskaya, dal'nevostochnaya0, 1978

9035

CSO: 5000

^
USSR

WIND TUNNEL NEEDED FOR POLLUTION RESEARCH

Tallin SOVETSKAYA ESTONIYA in Russian 20 Jul 78 p 2

[Article by V. Gendrikson, senior research associate, Institute of Thermophysics and Electrophysics Academy of Sciences Estonian SSR: "Wind Tunnel

Needed for Air Pollution Research, Architectural Design"]

[Abstract] The author states the case for a research wind tunnel in the

Estonian SSR. Despite the lack of an aircraft industry in the republic

such a tunnel would be of use to Estonian scientists and specialists for

simulating air currents close to the earth's surface. The aeromechanics

section of the author's institute, reputedly one of the country's pioneers

in the use of physical modeling methods for solving air pollution problems,

has been using a «mall wind tunnel not intended for that type of work

A wind tunnel is needed for other projects in city architecture and design

of industrial buildings. S

In a comment following the article, Doctor of Technical Sciences I. Epik

vice-president of the Academy of Sciences Estonian SSR, supports

Genrikson's proposal and suggests that construction of the wind tunnel

be considered by the Scientific Research Institute of Construction

Gosstroy Estonian SSR.

. ' ' i . ' • .

An accompanying.photograph shows a model of a building in a wind tunnel.

CSO: 5000

kS
USSR

PROTECTING WATER RESOURCES

Moscow EKDNOMICHESKAYA GAZETA in Russian No 27,July7Ö;

;p":2rV; ''

[Article by V. Morozov, expert of the CEMA. Secretariat/ ...

[Text] Concern about environmental protection occupies ah important position

in the activity of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The complex

program for development of socialist economic integration provides a number

of joint measures directed, specifically, to efficient use and protection of

the water resources of CEMA countries. To implement these propositions,

representatives of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Hungarian People's

Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Polish People's Republic, the

Union Republic of Rumania, the USSR and the CSSR signed an agreement on

creation of the International Economic Fraternity "Intervodoochistka." The

agreement became effective at the beginning of this year.

The International Economic Fraternity "Intervodoochistka" is called uppn to

expand and intensify the cooperation of CEMA countries on specific problems

of scientific research, planning-design and production activity directed toward development, introduction and operation of equipment, devices and installations for purification of waste waters and for water treatment. The

fraternity studies the requirements of the participating countries for equipment and apparatus for waste water purification and water-treatment objects,

determines and contributes to realization of the capabilities of development

of domestic production of this equipment in these countries on the basis of

international specialization and cooperation and determines methods of more

efficient use of existing production capacities and the latest achievements

of scientific and technical progress.

The participants of the International Fraternity "Intervodoochistka" are

the corresponding economic organizations of its founding countries. For

example, the Ail-Union Scientific Research Institute of Water Conservation

(Khar'kov, Ukrainian SSR) participates in it from the Soviet Union. Membership in the fraternity does not infringe upon the legal status of its participants, who fully retain their property and organizational independence.

V7
"Intervodoochistka" operates on the basis of joint management of it by all

participants. One of the participants manages its affairs by appointment

of the remaining participants. This participant is the economic organization

of the People's Republic of Bulgaria — the Committee for Heavy Investing

Machine Building Attached to the Ministry of Machine Building and Metallurgy

(Sofia). The committee provides at its own expense and its own efforts fulfillment of the functions of the working apparatus of the fraternity. At the

same time the other participants, at their own discretion and upon coordination with the Bulgarian party, as the leader of affairs, may send specialists

at its own expense to the working apparatus of the fraternity to participate

in study and development of materials and problems subject to consideration

within its framework.

The "Intervodoochistka" fraternity is not a legal entity. The obligations

related to its activity are assumed by the participant conducting the affairs

of the fraternity, that is, the management organization of Bulgaria mentioned

above. It operates at the discretion of the other participants, but acts

legally in its own name. At the same time, as noted in the agreement on

creation of the fraternity, its participants bear unanimous responsibility

for subsequent reckonings between them on the basis of special mutual agreement.

The presence of any international executive organization is not provided in

the "Intervodoochistka" fraternity since, as was shown above, its functions

are fulfilled by one of the participants of the fraternity. The fraternity's

activity also does not require formation of statute or other funds by corresponding fractional contributions of the participants. True, the possibility

of accomplishing joint cost-accounting activity of its participants within

the fraternity in the future is not excluded. It is provided that the representatives of the competent organizations of these countries will consider

the problem of the participants of the fraternity fulfilling joint economic

activity with regard to the needs of the participating countries as experience

is accumulated and will conclude the corresponding agreement if necessary.

The managing organization of the "Intervodoochistka" fraternity is the council.

It consists of the representatives of all participants. If there are several

participants from the same country, all of them together have only one vote

in the council. The meetings of the council are competent provided that representatives of all participants of the fraternity having the right to vote

are present at them. This provides full equal and democratic nature of the

"Intervodoochistka" fraternity. The decisions of the council are implemented

by conclusion of multiparty and two-party agreements between interested participants or on a different basis agreed by them.

The council is entitled to create specialized working groups to accomplish

operative cooperation and to develop specific proposals and projects within

the framework of the fraternity. Each interested participant may send his

own specialists there. Their tasks and operating procedures are determined

in the council by the interested participants. When representatives of

specialized working groups are appointed, the uniform representation of

48
these duties is taken into account by the representatives of all interested

participants.

The activity of the "Intervodoochistka" fraternity is carried out in close

contact with the corresponding organizations of CEMA, primarily with the

Conference of Directors of Water Management Organizations of the CEMA Member

Countries and the Secretariat of CEMA. According to creation of the

"Intervodoochistka" fraternity, it is provided that it takes into account

the materials of CEMA organizations in its own work which may be related to

its activity. It makes available periodic information about its own activity

to the corresponding organizations of CEMA at their request or through its

own initiative.

The "Intervodoochistka" fraternity is an open organization. Corresponding

organizations and the organizations of other countries, including those that

are not members of CEMA, may enter it. It may enter into business contacts

with organizations of different countries and also with international organizations engaged in similar problems.

In creating the "Intervodoochistka" fraternity, its founders proceeded on

the basis that it will contribute to a significant increase of mutual deliveries of equipment and apparatus by the interested countries of CEMA for

waste water purification and water treatment, will make it possible to improve the technical level and efficiency of their production and will reduce

expenditures for water purification and water conservation facilities. The

activity of the fraternity will also make it possible to establish and

strengthen the working contacts between the economic organizations of the

interested countries on a permanent and long-term basis on design, manufacture and deliveries of equipment for waste water purification and treatment

and will organize systematic direct business contacts between specialists of

these countries.

The first steps along the path of developing the practical activity of this

organization were taken at the first meeting of the council of

"Intervodoochistka," held in February 1978 at Sofia. The plan of its operation for 1978 was ratified and measures to develop specific problems of

cooperation for the following period were noted. The council considered that

a working apparatus (directorate) was formed by competent organizations of

the People's Republic of Bulgaria according to the agreement on creation of

the fraternity to accomplish daily operative work on conducting the affairs

of the fraternity. B. Tomov, a citizen of the People's Republic of Bulgaria,

was appointed the director of the working apparatus. D. Nanov, a representative of the Bulgarian party, was elected chairman of the council of the

fraternity for the first 2 years (until 1980).

International economic fraternities are also being created in other branches.

Thus, the ministries of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Polish People's

Republic, the USSR and the CSSR that manage the petroleum and gas industry

signed an agreement on creation of an international economic fraternity

h9
USSR

HYDROGEN — FUEL OF THE FUTURE

Leningrad LENINGRADSKAYA PRAVDA in Russian 23 Jul 78 p 2

[Interview with Deputy Director of the Institute of Atomic Energy imeni I. V.

Kürchatov, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences V. Legasov,

in Leningrad on 23 July, by APN correspondent N. Andreyev]

[Text] [Question] Working at the Institute of Atomic Energy, you are involved in research in the field of hydrogen power engineering, i.e., with

problems of using chemical rather than nuclear fuel. Are there not contradictions here.

[Answer] Not in the least. And this is why. Hydrogen is the lightest gas

containing more thermal calories than in the same amount of gasoline and is

an excellent, ecologically clean fuel. It releases heat without discharge

of harmful substances into the atmosphere. But unlike classical types of

fuel — wood, coal, oil and natural gas — there is almost no hydrogen in

pure foem on our planet. But there is plenty of water — the seas and

oceans occupy more than two-thirds of the surface of the globe. And in

order to produce this gas, the water must be broken down into its components,

which requires energy. It turns out that a society deciding to extract an

excellent high-calorie fuel from the vast world ocean will not be able to

cope without primary sources of energy — solar, atomic and thermonuclear,

those to which the future of power engineering is usually related.

[Question] But why will atomic reactors be used to produce hydrogen? After

all, water is broken down either by electric current or by heating to very

high temperatures and in principle the source of thermal or electric energy

could also become either coal, hydraulic or solar power plants.

[Answer] We assume that even in the future coal mining will be profitable

and not too complicated. Coal is cut and burned, heat is produced and water

is broken down. The result is ecologically pure hydrogen, which burns

without harmful wastes, and clouds of gases and smoke above the plant. In

1970 alone thermoelectric power plants discharged up to 80 million tons of

sulfur dioxide, millions of tons of ashes, carbon dioxide and mercury vapors

into the planet's atmosphere.

' 51 '
Of course, the "purist" source of heat is solar energy. It would seem that

nothing is simpler — install mirrors, focus the beams and receive free heat.

But are there places on the earth where the sun shines constantly? There are

cloudy days even in the Sahara Desert. And the main thing is that in order

to produce any kind of tolerable power at such a plant, the burning sands

must be covered with tens of hectares of expensive reflectors and converters.

Moreover, the desert is a place where there is no water. From what can hydrogen be produced? This means that entire lakes must either be pumped here or

solar energy must be converted to electric energy and as before many kilometers of electric power transmission lines must be suspended along which

current will reach the consumers in the less sunny regions.

But an atomic reactor can be installed whereever desired. Its product ~

heat ~ breaks down water. The separated oxygen enriches the atmosphere and

the hydrogen is transported in tanks or pumped like oil or gas along pipelines

to where it is needed. And the important thing is: nuclear fuel turns over

its energy immediately in the form of heat. There is no need, as is done at

present, to initially heat metal in the reactor and then transfer the heat

to water, convert it to steam and force it to act on turbine blades. And

only the generator turned by the turbine finally produces electric energy.

This is a long chain! And how many losses and how much heat is scattered

uselessly, but not without harm to the environment.

If electricity remains in the future even as widespread a form of energy as

now, its fraction in the total amount of energy required for normal viability

of a society will hardly exceed 50-60 percent.

An analogy with the working principle of a living organism suggests itself

here, where everything that is related to metabolism occurs due to chemical

transformations. And nature accomplishes only fast-flowing nerve, information processes by using electric impulses.

Is such a separation of functions accidental? Hardly. Nature utilizes the

electric form of energy only where it is absolutely necessary and where high

speed and accuracy of energy transmission are required.

I feel that the structure of power engineering should correspond to the

energy structure of the living organism and should allocate their role of a

fast and accurate carrier of information to electricity. Hydrogen should

be made the only source of energy in all remaining spheres — in transport,

in industry and in everyday life.

The advantage of hydrogen is not only in the ecological purity and enormous

heat-producing capability, but also in convenience of transport. If electric

power is transmitted over great distances ~ a very complex and expensive

matter and the energy losses increase sharply With the length of the line,

the cost of pumping or hauling.hydrogen whereever required is less dependent

on the remoteness of the consumer. V

52
Finally, unlike electric power plants which are absolutely unsuitable, let

us say, for aviation, electric energy is subject to "conservation" and

storage for the future with difficulty — hydrogen power plants may operate

even in the sky without interference. The design of the engines need hardly

be changed.

You know that the electric automobile, called upon to maintain the purity^

of the city atmosphere, is not yet a very independent type of transportation.

It depends too much on the capacity of storage batteries which are unable to

accumulate a sufficient amount of energy for practical needs.

Hydrogen is a different matter. It is easy to store and transport to any

distance and to burn there where it is needed. You pour liquid gas in the

frozen state into the tank and take off. There is enough fuel for a longer

run than in present automobiles. And this is in no way a dream — vehicles

operating on hydrogen are already traveling the roads of the country.

[Question] You have in mind the compact "Moskvich" and "Volga" automobiles,

which have been reequipped for hydrogen fuel at the Khar'kov Institute of

Problems of Machine Building.

[Answer] Yes, I am talking about these automobiles, experiments with which

will make it possible to analyze some practical problems of "hydrogen" transportation. It remains to be determined: is it more convenient to fill a

tank with liquid hydrogen or compounds of it? And perhaps gas can be produced as a result of the reaction of water with some substance, occurring

directly "on board" the automobile? Finally, should "classical'gasoline"

be immediately rejected? Wouldn't it be better to first travel on a gasoline-hydrogen mixture? It has been proved experimentally that, having

added 3-5 percent hydrogen to ordinary fuel, the discharge of harmful combustion by-products into the atmosphere can be sharply reduced. The exhaust

becomes ecologically clean even by the rigid modern requirements. Besides,

20-30 percent of the fuel will be saved.

Trucks operating on the same mixed fuel will appear during the next 2 years.

The first field of activity has already been determined for them — open-pit

iron ore mines at the Kursk deposit.

The vehicles require minimum design conversions. Only the carburetor need

be changed, which will supply a gasoline-hydrogen-air mixture to the engine.

[Question] If we are talking in general about transport and about the entire

energy economy of society rather than simply about automobiles, what will

be the price of conversion to hydrogen as the only universal fuel.

[Answer] The fact is that hydrogen reduces to a minimum revolutionary readjustments of power engineering. Judge for yourself— nuclear reactors,

which long ago proved their right to existence, are being successfully developed and will begin to produce approximately half of all energy by the end

53
of our century. The technology of hydrogen production, storage and transportation is being developed parallel with them. Finally, by evolution —

I emphasize by evolution rather than intermittently — engines and boilers,

domestic kitchens and heating systems and a mass of other devices now operating on oil and its by-products, natural gas or coal will be adapted for

hydrogen fuel.

Of course, there are difficulties in this path, but one can cope with them.

The first thing is to learn how to produce inexpensive, commercially suitable

hydrogen from water. Next are problems of cryogenics, keeping hydrogen in a

frozen, i.e., liquid, state. But again there is already much experience in

this field. In short, there are enough problems but they are completely

within the capability of present and even more so of future technology.

6521

CSO: 5000

5*-'
USSR

BRIEFS

GAS TREATMENT PLANT—A new gas treatment plant operated by specialists of

the Leningrad Branch of the Planning Institute "Giprogazoochistka," has become operational at the Association "Znamya truda." "This is the second

model which we have designed for this enterprise," relates the chief engineer of the project L. M. Pazin. "Unlike the first which has operated successfully for 3 years, it services a large number of steel-smelting furnaces.

This is a modern filter of synthetic fabric, consisting of more than 500

sleeves ~ the length of each is 8 meters. Approximately 1 million cubic

meters of gas is reprocessed in it per shift. The degree of scrubbing —

99 percent — corresponds to the best worldwide standards." The specialists

of the institute have now begun to complete the detail design of another

complex for a new foundry under construction. Scrubbing will be carried

out in it in sleeve filters of new design — simpler to maintain and having

no moving parts that wear out. No complex operation is required to clean

the sleeves — dust is "shaken off" the fabric periodically by the spent

gases by reverse blowing. [Text] [Leningrad LENINGRADSKAYA PRAVDA in Russian

19 Jul 78 p 2] 6521

WATER POLLUTION CHECK—Leningrad, 17 July—The research ship "Rudol'f

Samoylovich" departed today along the Baltic and North Sea on a "sanitary

inspection." The expedition of scientists will observe the hydrological

regime, chemical state and pollution of vast water spaces during the 1.5

month voyage. The "Rudol'f Samoylovich" is the youngest ship in the fleet

of the Arctic and Antartic Scientific Research Institute. It is designed

to monitor the purity of sea basins. The new expedition is being carried

out within the framework of the International Convention on Protection of

the Baltic Sea, the initiator of which was our country. The results of the

observations of Soviet scientists will serve as the basis for development of

recommendations on protection of the water medium against industrial pollutants. [Text] [Moscow SOVETSKAYA ROSSIYA in Russian 18 Jul 78 p 11 6521 .

CSO: 5000 ::

55
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

CONFERENCE FINDS DDT STILL PRESENT IN MOTHERS' MILK

Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE in Danish 21 Jul 78 p 3

[Text] If mothers-'-milk were covered by West Germany's legislation on

food materials, it would be prohibited as human food, according to a report which a research organization has published in Bonn.

The concentration of harmful materials exceeds the limit established in

the legislation for food materials of animal origin. But mothers' milk

is, in spite of everything, the best food for babies, the West German

researchers emphasized.

Danish laws have not yet established limits for the pesticide content in

food materials, but the rules which are being worked out tend to follow

tlie norms set by WHO and FAO. However, for DDT the regulations will be

somewhat stricter.

In West Germany a kilogram of meat or milk fat may contain a maximum of

3 milligrams of DDT.

Seen on this background, cow milk is purer than mothers' milk, both in

Denmark and in West Germany, but in this connection it should be pointed

'out that the limit has been set far below the danger level.

"It is obvious that Danish babies get DDT in their mothers' milk, but the

positive effects of this natural food are so great that it would be ridiculous to talk about risks," Director Emil Poulsen, National Institute of

Food Materials, tells BERLINGSKE. "I don't know what the DDT content in

Danish mothers' milk is. We have not investigated it, but research in

other places in this country leads to the assumption that it is purer than

the West German."

"Mothers' milk is the most correct nourishment for babies," says Engineer

Hans Lokke, the Food Materials Institute. "And at the same time the child

gets a series of important antibodies, which protect it against disease

and infections."

56
There are strict regulations about the use of DDT and other pesticides,

Sich were scattered generously at the time when nobody thought that these

poisons which are difficult to break down would pass up through the food

chain and end uP in human bodies. And thus also in mothers' milk and

babies.

DDT was prohibited in Denmark in 1969, except for the very small amounts

which are permitted in forestry.

"Since 1969 we have experienced a drop in the DDT content in butter," Hans

Lokke points out.

8958

CSO: 5000

t

i -,

57
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

DENMARK AND SWEDEN TO ESTABLISH SEISMIC STUDIES FOR N-PLANT SITING

Copenhagen POLITIKEN in Danish 8 Jul 78 p 1

[Text] Denmark and Sweden have started a joint research project to ensure

that future nuclear power stations will not be located in areas in the two

countries where there is any possibility at all of earthquakes. In southern Sweden 17 seismic measurement stations are being set up. Later on

they will be connected together with three stations on Sjaelland.

The research collaboration was started this year, for one thing, because

there is a geologic dislocation between Denmark and Sweden in the northern

part of Oresund and the southern part of Kattegat.

"Even if southern Sweden and Denmark seismically belong to some of the

quietest areas, this dislocation may give rise to some earthquakes," says

the leader of the Swedish part of the research project, Ola Dahlman.

The question is of even more interest for Sweden because the possibility

of storing radioactive waste in the Swedish bedrock has been discussed.

In parallel the Swedish Defense Research Institute has through the Swedish

press started an investigation to find out what took place around Ystad

on Thursday morning last week. Many inhabitants in the city have reported

that they were awakened by tremors which lasted up to 30 seconds. From

answers to questionnaires the research institute wants to establish what

took place and over how large an area earthquakes can be noticed.

The seismic stations which are being established in southern Sweden and in

Denmark are more sensitive than normal seismic measurement stations, which

are designed to measure earthquakes at a distanceof 1,000 kilometers or

even farther away.

The last strong earthquake which was registered in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark took place in 1904. It was centered in the Oslo Fjord and had approxi*

mately the same strength as the earthquake which struck northern Italy a v

year ago. There was damage to houses in several Italian villages, but the

earthquake did not cost any human lives.

8958

CSO: 5000

58
DENMARK

PROJECT TO SAVE BEACHES ANNOUNCED

Copenhagen POLITIKEN in Danish 15 Jul 78 p 18

[Text] Work costing many million kroner is necessary if the northern coast

of Sjaelland from Hundested to Helsingor is to be guaranteed a reasonable

standard in the future. If nothing is done now, especially the bathing

beaches will become considerably worse in a few decades. The costs are in

part to clear the existing coast protection installations and set up new

breakwaters and wave breakers and in part artificial fill at certain places

on the 60-km-long stretch of coast. In return there should be good possibilities for the creation of new bathing beaches, especially at Hornbaek

Plantation and Kikhavn.

This was brought out in an extensive investigation carried out by the five

municipalities affected and Frederiksborg County. The report has been

underway for 7 years. In turn it is—except for the west coast—the first

Danish attempt at evaluating a larger section of the coast as a whole.

The background for the report is the general feeling that it is necessary

to make a coordinated effort to secure the coast. It has been shown that

a number of private measures, for one thing on the coast west of Liseleje,

do more damage than good. Water breakers and wave breakers have been located without plans and result in an unnecessary degradation of the quality

of the beach.

The report has not yet been subjected to a political evaluation. But in

a series of draft proposals technicians from the consulting company

Holdstrup-Schultz and Sorensen and Danish Hydraulic Institute point to

possible solutions of the problems.

In most sections along the coast, measures of one kind or another are necessary. Still it would hardly be possible over the long range to preserve

the northern coast in its present condition. Natural wind and current conditions result in a continuous receding at many places.

One of the places threatened is the distance from Liseleje to Tisvildeleje.

If the beach and the dunes are to be preserved, it is necessary with a

59
considerable filling up, which in the professional language is referred to

as lining the beach. Otherwise the beach and the dunes will slowly be

pushed back by the sea.

Here the technicians propose that the natural resources of beach deposits

further inland be used. The excavation holes can in that case be used

for establishing fire breaks, setting out fish for breeding for recreational fishing, and for sailing with dinghies. This type of water holes

would also become important for the bird life.

The report on the care of the coast and securing the coast will after the

summer vacation be presented to the respective municipal administrations

and the county council. Only then will it be decided whether the work

should continue. It might possibly become of interest to let the capital

council join in the work.

U

8958

CSO: 5000 END

60