Bednaruk S.E., Dilman N.A., Mastryukova A.V., Chukanov V.V. THE REDUCTION OF BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES POPULATION IN VOLGOGRAD DURING FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 AS A SPECIAL TASK OF THE COMPLEX USE OF WATER RESERVOIRS CASCADE RECOURSES // Arid ecosystems. 2019. V. 25. № 4 (81). P. 92-99. | PDF

Every year, mass emerge of blood-sucking midges is observed at the territory of Volgograd and Astrakhan regions from the end of May till July. The midges show annoying behavior and their bites are very painful and annoying for humans and animals as well. In the second part of June, 2018 games of the FIFA World Cup should have been played in Volgograd. The threat of mass emerge of midges could adversely affect sanitary and epidemiological situation at the city and cause a violation of the governmental guarantees given to FIFA. It was suggested that managing of water releases through the Volgograd dam would be one of the possible measures to reduce a risk of midges emerge while the World Cup games. This suggestion was made according to available data on the dependence of a population and emerge time of midges on the characteristics of Lower Volga spring flood (water releases volume, maximum levels and intensity of water levels decline). Implementation of such water releases management was difficult and complex problem, as it should be reconciled with the water regimes of upstream reservoirs. The demands of other water users both upstream and downstream also had to be met. Available water resources of Volga-Kama cascade and uncertainty of water inflow forecasts should be concerned.

Keywords: Lower Volga, Volga-Kama cascade, special-purpose spring water release, multipurpose management of water resources, blood-sucking midge, 2018 FIFA World Cup.

DOI: 10.24411/1993-3916-2019-10077