On the problems of integrated use and protection of water resources in the Orenburg region and adjacent territories

The water resources of the Orenburg region are formed mainly due to water of infiltration origin. Their dynamics and chemical composition change zonally, decreasing from north to south, from forest-steppes to dry steppes and further to the deserts of Kazakhstan in accordance to the laws of latitudinal and altitudinal zonation, which vary depending on the regions. Well hydrogeologically closed areas have a powerful zone of hydrohalogenesis. With a decrease in the closeness of the subsoil, the thickness of zones of hydrogenesis increases, reaching a maximum in the folded mountainous Urals, where hydrogeological zoning is consistent with landscape-geochemical heterogeneity and drainage basins. Concentrations of elements in waters increase from the aeration zone to the zone of normal base flow. A regional geochemical barrier of hydrogen sulfide waters for metals has been identified in the structures of the Cis-Ural region. The volume of chemical denudation decreases towards the dry steppe zone and increases in elevated areas composed of gypsum and karst rocks. To solve water management problems it is necessary to introduce modern technologies. These include complex devices with geochemical, hydrodynamic and complex barriers.