Environmental monitoring of Lake Baikal

Ingress of chemicals into Lake Baikal
Ingress of substances together with water flow of major tributaries of Lake Baikal in 2018
Suspended solids, thousand tonnes
Organic substances, thousand tonnes

The diagrams provide an estimate of the removal of substances with aqueous runoff from the main stream tributaries of Lake Baikal – the rivers Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin and Turka. The aqueous runoff in the main-stream sections of the listed large tributaries of the lake was estimated on the basis of the adjusted average monthly water consumption. In 2018, compared to 2017, the removal of suspended solids increased by 9%, and organic substances-by 121%. The main reason for the increase in outflow was the increase in water flow, from 27.4 to 46.9 km3.

Ingress of substances from the atmosphere to Lake Baikal in 2018, tonnes/km2 per year

Observations were carried out at five stations (stationary): Baykalsk, Khamar-Daban (southern coast of the lake), Angara Source, Bolshoye Goloustnoye (west coast of the southern part of Lake Baikal) and Khuzhir (Olkhon island, middle Baikal).

The values of substances released from the atmosphere obtained according to the 2018 monitoring data were within the limits of the oscillations of the last decade.

Source: Materials of FSBI "GHI" Roshydromet