Comprehensive assessment of the ecological state of reservoirs in the urbanized territories of the south-west of Belarus

Abstract

The current state of reservoirs in urban areas is one of the characteristics of the ecology of the urban system and its social attractiveness. Therefore, the development of criteria for a comprehensive assessment of reservoirs in urbanized areas in order to develop recommendations for rehabilitation and maintenance in a good ecological condition is a rather urgent task.Тhe purpose of the work is to develop criteria for assessing the comprehensive index of the ecological state of reservoirs inurbanized territories, taking into account the recreational and aesthetic load on the example of water bodies in the south-west of Belarus. The objects of the study are typical reservoirs of urban areas in the southwest of the Belarus.Based on the analysis of the results of our own expeditionary and laboratory studies and existing information on reservoirs in the urbanized territories of the south-west of Belarus, the choice of criteria was substantiated and for the first time a point scale for assessing the complex index of the ecological state of urban reservoirs was developed, takinginto account the current conditions of anthropogenic influence. The criteria for the scoring of the complex index are based on hydrobiological, hydrochemical, and hydromorphological indicators of the ecological state of reservoirs, their recreational significance, anthropogenic transformation, trophic state, and environmental degradation.The results of the developed point assessment of the complexindex of the ecological state of reservoirs in the urbanized territories of the south-west of Belarus for 2020are presented. It has been established that the overwhelming majority of urban water bodies in the south-west of Belarus (3/5 of the total) are characterized by a satisfactory ecological status, 1/5 of the studied reservoirs are in poor condition, and1/5of the total are in good condition. The research results can be used to develop recommendations for measures to improve and rehabilitate reservoirs insatisfactory and poor ecological condition.