Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Both the insufficiency of water resources and the contamination of even transboundary water bodies are serious problems. Water quality analyses of the transboundary (between Russia and Kazakhstan) Ural River and the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, and their assessment are the main research questio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-02-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/4/2059 |
| _version_ | 1797482983863615488 |
|---|---|
| author | Nariman Amirgalievich Amirgaliev Maulken Askarova Christian Opp Alikhan Medeu Roza Kulbekova Akhmetkal Rakhmetullayevich Medeu |
| author_facet | Nariman Amirgalievich Amirgaliev Maulken Askarova Christian Opp Alikhan Medeu Roza Kulbekova Akhmetkal Rakhmetullayevich Medeu |
| author_sort | Nariman Amirgalievich Amirgaliev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Both the insufficiency of water resources and the contamination of even transboundary water bodies are serious problems. Water quality analyses of the transboundary (between Russia and Kazakhstan) Ural River and the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, and their assessment are the main research questions of this study. It is shown that the Ural River is heavily contaminated by <i>polychlorinated biphenyls</i>, heavy metals, oil contaminants, and pesticides, arising from industrial enterprises and agricultural objects. The results show that these toxicants are not only present in water, but they are also accumulated in the muscular tissues of all fish (<i>Abramis brama</i>, <i>Sander lucioperca</i>, <i>Aspius aspius</i>). The Caspian Sea is heavily contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons due to off shore oil production. A sufficiently high level of accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals was determined in the muscles of Caspian fish. All these contaminations lead to the loss of biodiversity and bio-productivity of the Caspian Sea. The authors propose a methodology for a quantitative assessment of the environmental safety level in relation to the Kazakh part of the Caspian Sea, based on bioindication methods. Recommendations, aimed for maintaining acceptable values of water resources quality, are suggested. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:41:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-29f4660585224c539d68e2e36bcb20f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:41:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-29f4660585224c539d68e2e36bcb20f02023-11-23T18:38:32ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-02-01124205910.3390/app12042059Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of KazakhstanNariman Amirgalievich Amirgaliev0Maulken Askarova1Christian Opp2Alikhan Medeu3Roza Kulbekova4Akhmetkal Rakhmetullayevich Medeu5Institute of Geography and Water Security, Ministry of Education & Science, Almaty 050010, KazakhstanDepartment of Geography, Land Management and Cadastre, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty 050038, KazakhstanFaculty of Geography, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, GermanyInstitute of Geography and Water Security, Ministry of Education & Science, Almaty 050010, KazakhstanInstitute of Geography and Water Security, Ministry of Education & Science, Almaty 050010, KazakhstanInstitute of Geography and Water Security, Ministry of Education & Science, Almaty 050010, KazakhstanBoth the insufficiency of water resources and the contamination of even transboundary water bodies are serious problems. Water quality analyses of the transboundary (between Russia and Kazakhstan) Ural River and the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, and their assessment are the main research questions of this study. It is shown that the Ural River is heavily contaminated by <i>polychlorinated biphenyls</i>, heavy metals, oil contaminants, and pesticides, arising from industrial enterprises and agricultural objects. The results show that these toxicants are not only present in water, but they are also accumulated in the muscular tissues of all fish (<i>Abramis brama</i>, <i>Sander lucioperca</i>, <i>Aspius aspius</i>). The Caspian Sea is heavily contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons due to off shore oil production. A sufficiently high level of accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals was determined in the muscles of Caspian fish. All these contaminations lead to the loss of biodiversity and bio-productivity of the Caspian Sea. The authors propose a methodology for a quantitative assessment of the environmental safety level in relation to the Kazakh part of the Caspian Sea, based on bioindication methods. Recommendations, aimed for maintaining acceptable values of water resources quality, are suggested.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/4/2059transboundary water coursesUral RivercontaminantsCaspian Seafishecological safety |
| spellingShingle | Nariman Amirgalievich Amirgaliev Maulken Askarova Christian Opp Alikhan Medeu Roza Kulbekova Akhmetkal Rakhmetullayevich Medeu Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan Applied Sciences transboundary water courses Ural River contaminants Caspian Sea fish ecological safety |
| title | Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| title_full | Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| title_fullStr | Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| title_short | Water Quality Problems Analysis and Assessment of the Ecological Security Level of the Transboundary Ural-Caspian Basin of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| title_sort | water quality problems analysis and assessment of the ecological security level of the transboundary ural caspian basin of the republic of kazakhstan |
| topic | transboundary water courses Ural River contaminants Caspian Sea fish ecological safety |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/4/2059 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT narimanamirgalievichamirgaliev waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan AT maulkenaskarova waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan AT christianopp waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan AT alikhanmedeu waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan AT rozakulbekova waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan AT akhmetkalrakhmetullayevichmedeu waterqualityproblemsanalysisandassessmentoftheecologicalsecuritylevelofthetransboundaryuralcaspianbasinoftherepublicofkazakhstan |