PROBLEMS OF RIVER PRESERVATION IN THE BELOVEZHSKAYA PUSHCHA
Boris P. Savitskij,
Belarussian State University,
Nikolai K. Vakhonin,
Belarussian Research Institute for
Land Improvement and Meadow Culture,
Academy of Agrarian Sciences,
Minsk, Belarus
TWO MAIN RIVERS
The hydrological network of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha is based on two main rivers, the Narev and Lesnaya Pravaya, which belong to the Baltic Basin. Their measured water discharge and the main hydrographical indices within the boundaries of Belarus are not significantly different (the average annual discharge of the Narev River is 5 m3/s, from a catchment area of 326 km2; those of the Lesnaya Pravaya are 4.8 m3/s and 650 km2, respectively). However, from physicogeographical aspects the difference between these rivers is rather substantial. The Narev River originates in the Support (Buffer) Zone of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, very close to the head of the Yasselda - the left tributary of the Pripyat River, where historically the exchange of fauna and flora complexes between the Baltic and the Black Sea basins have most probably taken place. Running through northern Pushcha, the Narev River crosses over into Poland where it flows into the Vistula. The Lesnaya Pravaya River, in quite the opposite way, rises in Poland, passes through the southern part of the Pushcha and, in the vicinity of the town of Kamenetz, after it has joined the Lesnaya Levaya River, forms the Lesnaya River - a tributary of the Zapadny Bug which also flows into the Narev River close to Warsaw in Poland.
Figure 51. Small meandering
river (Narevka)
in Pushcha (NC)
Figure 52. Artificial lake in the
Pierevaloka River valley (OdB)
The rivers of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha are, moreover, the chief factor in determining the level of ground waters in the territory of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha forest tracts.
DEGRADATION OF THE RIVER SYSTEMS
In spite of their international importance, and the necessity to protect the Belovezhskaya Pushcha watercourse ecosystems, as indicated above, these rivers, and especially their catchment areas, have suffered both in Belarus and Poland from the impact of two types of anthropogenic activities: hydro-technical construction and drainage operations allied with land reclamation. Within the boundaries of Belarus, the Narev River has suffered least, with only one drainage reclamation system "Borki-Popelevo" covering 470 ha, and a number of separate canals of pre-war construction near the riverhead. However, its main tributary, the Narevka, has been canalised and almost completely regulated. The subbasin terrain on the right bank of the Lesnaya Pravaya River has been reclaimed to a much greater extent. In the catchment territory in the Belarussian part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, one can single out eight melio-geocomplexes (see Table 1) with excessive anthropogenic impact. The problems associated with their ecological protection require a differentiated approach, with due regard to ecological, economic, and social factors.
Table 1
Melio-geocomplexes of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha River Basins
| No | River Basins | Melio-geocomplex |
| 1 | Narev | Kolonka-Pchyolka |
| 2 | Narev | Dikoie-Yasselda |
| 3 | Narev | Tisovka-Narevka (Diky Nikor) |
| 4 | Narev | Nikor (Gvozna) |
| 5 | Narev | Borki-Popelevo |
| 6 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Lesnaya Pravaya-Lesnaya Levaya |
| 7 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Dmitrovichsky |
| 8 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Sipurka-Palichna |
Within the boundaries of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the construction of hydrotechnical facilities (apart from the river canalising activity) has manifested itself only on the Lesnaya Pravaya River whose minor tributary, the Pierevoloka River, has hosted two artificial water reservoirs: Large Lyadskoie (old) and Small Lyadskoie (new), with areas amounting to 332 ha and 80 ha, respectively. There is no doubt that these storage reservoirs have affected the hydrology of the Pierevoloka River: it has virtually vanished as a river. However, since its discharge is rather low (about 0.015 m3/s), the impact upon the hydrological regime of the Lesnaya Pravaya has been insignificant; primarily the effect has been upon the surrounding forest stretches and the hydrological performance of water intakes.
Figure 53. Marshy area along the Rudauka
River in northern Pushcha (OdB)
As to the Narev River, no hydrotechnical constructions have been built on it within the Belovezhskaya Pushcha territory proper. However, a large storage reservoir, Siemianowka, has been erected (1993) close by in Poland (area 2,900 ha, total storage of 60,000,000 m3). The Narev River hydrological regime and that of its right-bank tributaries have suffered greatly, and by 1999, this had resulted in material changes to the flora and fauna of the rivers in question.
PROPOSAL FOR HYDROLOGICAL AND HYDROBIOLOGICAL MONITORING
Figure 54. The Cowslip (Primula veris),
one of the many special plant
species in the Bialowieza National Park (AB)
We consider that it is essential to install a monitoring system covering hydrological and hydrobiological parameters to determine the quality of both river systems. This should monitor: the river discharge, water levels, the rate of flow, water temperature and colour index, transparency of water, seston (the organic and mineral fractions), phytoplankton (biomass, quantity, species composition), bacterioplankton (biomass, quantity), zooplankton (biomass, quantity, species composition), nanoplankton, phytobenthos, overgrowing zoobenthos (biomass, quantity, species composition), dimensional characteristics of the leading species of plankton and benthos. In Table 2, the suggested locations of observation points along the rivers are mentioned.
Table 2
Proposed Discharge Observation Network and Sites of Comprehensive Ecological Monitoring of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Watercourses
| No | Observation Point (Control Sections) | River Cross Sections | Location |
| Republic of Belarus | |||
| 1 | Narev River | Near the border with Poland | |
| 2 | Narev River | Rudavka River Outlet | |
| 3 | Narev River | Near the border with Poland | |
| 4 | Narev River | In the territory of the Pushcha | |
| 5 | Íàðåâêà | In the territory of the Pushcha | |
| 6 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Near the border with Poland | |
| 7 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Belaya River Outlet | |
| 8 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Kamenyuki Settlement | |
| 9 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Downstream of Kamenyuki Settlement | |
| 10 | Belaya | Outlet | |
| Republic of Poland | |||
| 11 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Downstream of Gainuvka Settlement | |
| 12 | Lesnaya Pravaya | Near the border with Belarus | |
| 13 | Narev | At Inflow to Siemionówka Reservoir | |
| 14 | Narevka | Near the border with Belarus | |
PRESERVATION MEASURES
To preserve the natural status and to ensure systematic investigation of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Rivers, we consider it necessary:
1. To prohibit land reclamation and the construction of hydrotechnical facilities, plus the repair and/or rehabilitation of those already in operation, without due consent from the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park on all the sites they form part of drainage area of the Narev and the Lesnaya Pravaya rivers;
2. To organise comprehensive ecological monitoring of the watercourses of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha by establishing an International Observation Network of 14 stations, ten of them in Belarus and four in Poland. To make provisions for financing the monitoring project from the budgets of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Poland, international organizations and other funds, to cover all the items discussed earlier, at the locations given in Table 2, with observations to be carried out four times per year;
3. To expand the boundaries of the Support (Buffer) Zone of the National Park to include its watercourse catchment areas;
4. To negotiate and assign the eastern part of the melio-geocomplex "Tissovka - Narevka", along the line between Belovezhskaya Pushcha's Compartments 511 and 624, to the National Park; to recommend a gradual reduction and regulation of agricultural production in the melio-geocomplex "Diky Nikor" which is a part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha and in the National Park's possession.