DEPENDENCE OF SALT LAKE WATER RESOURCES IN THE SOUTH OF WESTERN SIBERIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Numerous salt lakes in the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia can boast with unrivaled biological productivity. They possess a great economical and ecological value, being used for centuries as important sources of water. At the same time, excessive anthropogenic pressure, accompanied by intensive land reclamation works, led to massive destruction of these natural systems. Also, the lakes suffer from natural cause of degradation, due to the change of the territory humidity degree and drainage of wetlands. This change occurred when the moisture reserve, previously allowing all wetland systems to endure dramatic changes in climatic conditions, became extinguished. The paper examines the impact of climate change on the condition of salt lakes, located in the south of Western Siberia, and on their individual components, both in inter-century and intra-century perspectives. The study was based on the analysis of cartographic sources, archived material, statistical analysis of long-term meteorological observations. Individual components, determining the water regimes of lakes, were characterized. The water balance of lakes, the territory humidity dynamics, fluctuations of the lake levels during the past 100 years were considered in detail. Synchrony of climatic periods and hydrological regimes of the lakes were described; the determining influence of atmospheric cyclonic circulation on the periodic variations of lake levels was confirmed. Despite the cyclic nature of lake regimes in the south of Western Siberia, the main trend in their current development is a gradual reduction of the aquatic area and its partition into smaller ponds.