VOLGOGRAD, May 19. /TASS/. Specialists believe reduction of water consumption is the most efficient measure in conditions of water shortage in the Volga River basin for two years in a row, deputy head of the lower Volga basin department Farkhad Mirobidov said on Tuesday.
"The most efficient measure is water saving by all water users, the major ones in the first instance, which are taking water from the Volga," Mirobidov said. Water intakes cleaning is also a requisite condition of maintaining such facilities and contributes to the rational water spending, Mirobidov added.
TASS reported earlier maximal tail water for the Volga-Akhtuba floodland would total 16,000 cubic meters per second this year instead of 25,000 in high-water years. "Current saving of water resources is the only possible tradeoff," Head of the Lower Volga Basin Water Department Anatoly Bykov said.
The Volga Basin has been suffering from the water shortage for two years in a row.
"80% of Russia’s water resources are located in its eastern part, while 80% of the population and industry are in the western one. Water shortage may occur in the European Russia in about thirty years unless we manage to save water," Director of the Institute of Water Problems Victor Danilov-Danilyan said.
Water reserves in Volga-Kama cascade reservoirs dropped 8.7 cubic kilometers year-on-year and currently total 50.6 cubic kilometers. Researchers believe the dry winter became the cause of the recent shallowing.