Scientists: Onega and Ladoga to be saved from “rapid aging” and death
PETROZAVODSK, June 15. /Offset. TASS Igor Lukyanov/. The Onega and Ladoga lakes, which are sources of drinking water for several regions in the next few decades can be lost due to the negative anthropogenic impact, consider Karelian scientists.
“The ecosystems of lakes after heavy pollution in the Soviet years, not fully recovered and will not recover until the end, to the state, which was in the middle of the twentieth century. If everything is as now at the end of the lake, as any living organisms that can die,” he told TASS head of the laboratory of geography and hydrology, Institute of water problems of the North, Karelian research centre RAS, corresponding member of RAS Nikolai Filatov.
Problems lakes
Working in a few decades, the study of the Ladoga and Onega lakes Nikolai Filatov told TASS that until 1991 in their catchment were located more than 600 industrial and rural enterprises. Here was the fleet. The polluted lake for many years.
Due to anthropogenic pollution of the lake have become instantly old. If it was not, the aging process of lakes lasted for thousands of years and even decades.Nicholas Filatovo-correspondent of RAS
Despite the fact that after the restructuring, many enterprises closed down, these lakes are still experiencing too great a strain on the ecosystem due to discharge of sewage of cities and other human settlements, agriculture, impact of trout farms, the impact of industrial enterprises, hydropower and water transport.
In the catchment area are numerous, including environmentally hazardous, production, economic facilities and facilities discharging into water bodies significant amounts of contaminated wastewater.
“Other water of such quality and volume near and never will be. Therefore on the conservation and sustainable use of resources of the lakes to be taken care of now,” — said Nikolai Filatov.
Lake Ladoga
According to the scientist, for the gradual recovery of ecosystems in the Onega lake, in particular, can be discharged not more than 600 tons of phosphorus per year in lake Ladoga — no more than 2 thousand tons. Currently, these figures are much higher.
The law for protection of lakes
Concerned with the protection of lakes MPs and scientists have decided to protect them from the negative impact of using Federal law, because the lake is Federal property.
Since 2013, his development is at the initiative of the legislative Assembly of Karelia with participation of representatives of state authorities of the Republic of Karelia, Novgorod region, Komi Republic, Saint-Petersburg, the Leningrad region, as well as scientific and public organizations.
The authors of the bill proposed to allocate two zones of protection with their regimes — and the Central ecological zone of direct influence.
“The first of them are themselves of the lake, their water protection zone and specially protected natural territories adjacent to lake Ladoga and Onega. Such a zone of special protection is established for each section of the coasts separately, but not less than 200 m from the shoreline. Here restrictions on economic and town-planning activity”, — said the Chairman of legislative Assembly of Karelia Elissan Gandalovic.
Within the catchment area is proposed to establish an environmental area of direct impact from a stricter regime of nature than that provided by the current legislation. For all regions it is planned to set annual quotas of harmful effects on the ecosystem of the lakes. It is also planned to introduce multiplying factors fees for businesses for the negative impact on the environment, he said.
Lake Onega
In 2016 the Legislative Assembly of Karelia has sent a bill to the State Duma, however, the document was returned for revision. Currently the bill is being finalized with the participation of all stakeholders.
“I hope that this year that Russia declared a Year of ecology, the state Duma will support our bill “About protection of Ladoga and Onega lakes”. As soon as this Federal law will appear, you can start to develop government programs that will help develop community infrastructure, to build treatment facilities”, — said Gandalovic.
Attention to the problems of the lakes has attracted the President
Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2013 at a meeting of the security Council of the Russian Federation, which was dedicated to national security in the sphere of environment protection and natural resources, demanded to pay special attention to the Ladoga and Onega lakes.
In his words, “the deterioration of water quality in lake Ladoga and lake Onega can lead to problems with providing drinking water to the entire Northwest region of the Russian Federation. This issue requires specific attention at both the Federal and regional level”.
Lake Onega