WATER USE AS A FACTOR IN THE FORMATION OF ECOLOGICAL SAFETY OF THE NICHLAVA RIVER BASIN
Authors: Kuzyk Ihor , Melnik Yuriy 
Published: August 2023

The purpose of the article is to determine the level of pollution of the Nichlava River and the structure of water use in its basin from the point of view of forming the ecological security of the region. The following methods were used in the course of the study:  evaluation, geoecological analysis, statistical, geoinformation, geochemical and cartographic. Ensuring the ecological safety of a small river basin directly depends on the hydroecological parameters of the river itself. Therefore, studying the pollution of the Nichlava River and the quality of its waters is an important and urgent scientific-practical task.

Based on the analysis of statistical data from the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine, we found that in 2021, 450 thousand m3 of water was withdrawn from natural water bodies in the Nichlava River basin, including 280 thousand m3 from underground water intakes. The used 600 thousand m3 of fresh water, including 260 thousand m3 for drinking and sanitary needs and 340 thousand m3 for production needs. The total water discharge in the Nichlava River basin in 2021 amounted to 660 thousand m3 of water. A total of 650 thousand m3 of wastewater was discharged into the basin's surface water bodies over the year. Including 80 thousand m3 of polluted wastewater and 180 thousand m3 of normatively clean wastewater without wastewater treatment. In 2021, 390 thousand m3 of wastewater was treated at the wastewater treatment plants in the study area. In 2016-2021, 668 thousand m3 of contaminated or insufficiently treated wastewater was discharged into the Nichlava River. Together with the polluted wastewater, 1147 tons of pollutants entered the river. The calculated polluting wastewater discharge coefficient for the Nichlava River basin is 0,12, which indicates not a high concentration of pollutants in the wastewater. However, despite the significant amounts of pollutants discharged into the surface water bodies of the Nichlava River basin, all indicators of the chemical-biological composition of water in the control section of the river meet ecological standards. Therefore, the level of ecological safety in the Nichlava River basin can be considered satisfactory. Promising measures to improve the ecological condition of the river and its basin include optimizing the structure of land use, restoring and preserving coastal protection strips, reconstructing inoperable sewage treatment plants in settlements, and eliminating unauthorized discharges into surface water bodies.

Therefore, the introduction of effective mechanisms of rational water use in the Nichlava River basin should be a priority area of environmental policy at the regional level of new administrative districts and the local level of territorial communities. The river basin management plan, which must be developed, should include measures to restore the centralized drainage system in small and large settlements, reconstruction of treatment facilities and elimination of unauthorized discharges into surface water bodies.

Key words: Nichlava River, polluted runoff, water use, water quality.