Govt. may review minimal water level for Baikal once 456m mark passed in Dec - Russian environmental ministry
MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The Russian Government may consider setting the Baikal's minimal level of water below 456.0 meters if the forecast saying that the mark will be passed as early as this December is correct, the Russian Environmental Ministry's press service head Nikolai Gudkov told Interfax.
"If this forecast proves to be true and the Baikal's water-level goes below the 456-meter mark as early as December 2015, we will have to make decisions on a new minimum level," Gudkov told Interfax on Friday.
Such a decision may be implemented in the form of a Government Decree, he said. Also, Gudkov does not rule out the possibility that such a decree may replace the regulation dating back to 2001 that is currently in force. It restricts discharge of water through Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station, given the Baikal's water-level goes below the 456-meter mark, under the Pacific Elevation System.
However, Gudkov said, the 456.0 mark is merely a forecast. "No one can guarantee 100% that it will come true," he said.
Earlier on Friday, the press service of the Russian environmental ministry said that the minimumt level of water of the Baikal (456.0m) was forecast to be reached by this December due to a low inflow, the reason for which, among other factors, being the deficit of sediment supply in the Transbaikalia territory and the Baikal region this summer.
In February 2015, the Russian Government had to adopt a decree specifically sanctioning a flush of water in the period of the spring flood in case the water level of the Baikal drops below the level set by the 2001 regulation, i.e. 456 meters.
Some experts believe that the problem of the water level of Lake Baikal requires new scientific studies and if it turns out that the largest fresh water lake in the planet has entered into a new lengthy period of water shortage, a constant review of applied regulations may well be required.