TOMSK, Jul 18 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of the Faculty of Geology and Geography of Tomsk State University (TSU) investigated the Lake Beloye, and found out that due to human exposure it completely lost the ability to self-restoration, the press service of the university said on Tuesday.
It is specified that earlier the pond was fed by underground waters, on its sandy bottom springs spouted. From the lake flowed the river Belaya, which flowed into Ushayka. At the end of the XVIII century, residents of Tomsk released water from the reservoir, deepened its basin, surrounded the pond with a peaty shaft. In the 1970s the bottom was cleared, and the natural springs that fed the Lake Beloye with groundwater were concreted.
"According to our measurements on the map of 1933, earlier when there was a low-rise wooden building around the reservoir, the area of the lake's catchment area was 542,000 square meters. After the construction was replaced with a multi-storey stone and streets were asphalted, centralized water supply and sewerage were built, a catchment area was reduced to 16 740 square meters", – the head of the GGF TSU hydrology department Valery Zemtsov is quoted.
Thus, the asphalting of the coastal territory and its active development reduced the catchment area by 32 times: the lake lost its ability to self-repair. Now the reservoir feeds only on account of atmospheric precipitation. "In the absence of underground water supply and drainage from it, the water balance of the Lake Beloye become close to zero, which indicates a critical condition", – is said in the statement.To prevent further deterioration of the situation, the hydrologists of TSU recommend to make additional pumping of water from external sources.
"In the warm period, it is possible to prevent oxygen deficiency connected with the decomposition of vegetation and organic matter coming from the sewage, by artificial aeration of water. At the same time, it's possible to suspend degradation of Lake Beloye and to improve the quality of water by the settling of aquatic organisms, including aquatic vegetation", – the press-service informs.