Assessment of Anthropogenic Impact in the Municipalities of the Baikal Natural Territory and Its Role in Terrestrial Pollutant Inflow into Lake Baikal

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Abstract The discrepancy between the boundaries of river basins, within which pollutants are transferred by water flows, and municipal units, where the sources of their entry into rivers are located, is a complex scientific and methodological problem of water resources management. The article presents an integrated assessment of anthropogenic impact calculated based on state statistics for municipalities of the Baikal Natural Territory. Based on the example of river basins, tributaries of Lake Baikal located within its boundaries, the authors’ proposed methodology for assessing the contribution of municipalities to the inflow of heavy metals and metalloids (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, Mo, P, Sb, Sn, U) in dissolved and suspended form with river runoff into Lake Baikal is discussed. Regression analysis methods were used to determine the leading role of five factors of influence that statistically impact the formation of concentrations and input of priority pollutants in the outlets of 13 of the largest tributaries of Lake Baikal (the Selenga, Barguzin, Turka, Tyya, Verkhnyaya Angara, Snezhnaya, Kichera, Goloustnaya, Buguldeika, Utulik, Kika, Frolikha, Bolshaya Cheremshana rivers). Volume of wastewater discharge, the volume of untreated wastewater discharge, areas disturbed by mining activity, geomorphological hazard of the territory, and rate of potential soil erosion were used as a factors in the analyses. Finally, contribution of individual municipalities located within river basins to the formation of the total impact of each of the five factors resulted in a method for determining the quantitative role of municipalities in the formation of pollutant input into Lake Baikal. Within the boundaries of the Baikal Natural Territory, the level of anthropogenic impact for most indicators has a negative tendency with an increase in the localization of pollution in three urban areas (10–30% for each substance in the urban okrug of Ulan-Ude and Severobaikalsky and Selenginsky districts). This zone is characterized by the highest wastewater load related to the surface runoff.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.