Assessment of the impact of climate changes on water consumption

FIGURE 26.

Assessment of the impact of climate changes on water consumption

State borer Siverskyi Donets River Donets – Donbas Canal Dnipro – Donbas Canal % of use of the available water resources

0 0 – 5 5 – 10 10 – 25 25 – 50

Source: Diadin et al., Materials for UNICEF, 2021 Source: Дядін та ін., матеріали для ЮНІСЕФ, 2021

Among regional ecosystems, wetland ecosystems – floodplain bogs, transitional relict bogs on pine terraces and bogs on high terraces of river valleys, especially in the central and southern parts of the sub-basin – are the most vulnerable to current and projected climate changes. Meadow ecosystems of river floodplains and high terraces of river valleys are also very vulnerable: their further xerophytization is expected to intensify. The spread of invasive species through the Dnieper-Donbas Canal may also intensify.

Due to climate change, water quality can be expected to further deteriorate by such indicators as the content of suspended solids, organic pollution (according to BOD5), dissolved oxygen, ammonium, sulfates, chlorides and phosphates. Such deterioration is likely to be due to longer summer low-water periods, growing water temperature during the warm period of the year, inflow of contaminated surface runoff from agricultural and urban areas after extreme rainfall. An increase in the concentrations of nutrients along with the growing water temperature during the vegetation period will increase the incidence of algal and cyanobacterial “blooms” and the water surface areas covered by such blooms not only in reservoirs and ponds, but also in slow-flowing rivers. Manifestations of climate changes are not exclusively related to the impact on water resources and ecosystems, but also pose a threat to the economy, population and nature of the basin. Preventing their adverse effects is a task for a comprehensive program of territory adaptation35, the content of which goes beyond measures which immediately address water and environmental issues.

35 Diadin et al. Analysis and Assessment of the Impact of Climate Changes in the Siverskyi Donets Basin. Materials developed for the UNICEF

Office in Ukraine. – K., 2021.