Assessment of environmental flow requirements in the transboundary Irtysh River basin for water resources allocation considering ecosystem needs
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Relevance. The transboundary Irtysh River basin is characterized by intensive economic development, transformation of the natural water regime, and increasing water demand. This creates a need for scientifically grounded recommendations on water resources allocation among the riparian countries. At the same time, there are no agreed water allocation mechanisms in the basin that take ecosystem requirements into account. In global water resources management practice, such requirements are taken into account through the concept of environmental flow. This study presents an assessment and justification of environmental flow parameters for the Irtysh River to enable taking them into account in developing recommendations on the water allocation. Methods. The study is based on the analysis of water use and the state of the Irtysh transboundary basin ecosystems, analysis of the long-term hydrological observations, including the data of the reconstructed naturalized flow series. The method of critical hydrological conditions was used to substantiate the environmental flow parameters; floodplain inundation was adopted as the key indicator. Calculations were performed for the Irtysh-Tatarka gauging station located near the Russia-Kazakhstan boundary considering the specific features of flow formation in the study reach. Results. The functions and indicative parameters of environmental flow were identified. The preliminary environmental flow value is about 80 % of the annual naturalized runoff volume. The importance of maintaining environmental flow during the spring–summer period was highlighted. Maintaining May runoff volumes above 4 km³ is considered a hydrological condition necessary for floodplain inundation. These results may provide a basis for incorporating ecosystem requirements into water allocation mechanisms in the transboundary Irtysh River basin.
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204593899