Development of water protection in European countries: relevance for Ukraine

Abstract

In Ukraine, the destruction of natural aquatic ecosystems has reached a critical point. The purpose of the study is to analyse foreign experience in the development and revitalization of aquatic ecosystems and resources, and the possibilities of implementing modern monitoring and management systems, as well the state and public regulation in the field of water resources consumption and reproduction. During the study, the methods of system analysis, synthesis, generalisation, and synergistic approaches and methods of inference were used in the assessment and development models of overly complex aquatic ecosystems. It has been determined that the experience of European countries in the field of water protection, such as the rules for wastewater management and the use of nitrates in agriculture, is particularly relevant for Ukraine. Adopting this experience will help to form an integrated water resources management in Ukraine. The study shows that Ukraine's European integration encourages interstate cooperation on water bodies and water basin management, when a comprehensive integrated principle of basin management on an interstate basis will allow Ukraine to revitalize rivers and important reservoirs and maintain them in a state of sustainable development. The author suggests the need to form a new paradigm of state monitoring and sustainable development of aquatic ecosystems in Ukraine in terms of concentrating available resources on priority water bodies and comprehensive coverage of a water body (small river basin), systematic revitalization of the Dnipro reservoirs through reconstruction, and elimination of most artificial structures in the floodplains.