Chapter 2. State of the Caucasus Environment and Policy Measures: a retrospective from 1972 to 2002

2.9 Natural disasters

Water hydrology of the Caucasus is largely affected by two factors: atmospheric precipitation and snow melting. Usually, annual precipitation increases together with elevation until 2,000 m above sea level and decreases from west to east. Rivers that flow in areas with high precipitation and are fed by snow melting are characterised by high flow. Many rivers originate in high mountain zones of the Greater Caucasus, where eternal snow and glaciers are located. High flood periods, lasting about 6 months, are characteristic of these rivers. In spring and summer periods, when intensive snow melting starts, water level increases considerably. Usually, one peak discharge occurs on these rivers, whereas on the rivers starting in foothills of the Caucasus there are two of them: in spring when snow melts and in fall after downpours. Floods are spontaneous only in some years, when the most intensive snow melting occurs and water covers adjacent plane territories, incurring great damage to agriculture.

The following rivers form the largest flood areas: Kuban, Terek, Kura, Araks and Rioni. Along their shores there are concrete dikes and levies to prevent material loss caused by floods. Many reservoirs regulate water, such as the Mingechevir on the river Kura, Krasnodar on the river Kuban, Chirkei, Chiri- Yurti on the river Sulak, Lajanuri, Gumati, Vartsikhe on the river Rioni, Jvari on the river Enguir, Akhurian, Arpichil, Araks hydro knot on the river Araks, etc.

During the past 30 years major floods occurred in Western Georgia in April 1978, May 1982, and January 1987; in Baksan gorge in the North Caucasus in July 1975 and in Krasnodar Kray in the North Caucasus in February 1998. All these floods had serious social-economic and environmental impacts. Specifically, they inundated settlements including the large towns Kutaisi, Zestaphoni, Krasnodar, Tikhoretsk etc. They also damaged large areas of agricultural lands and infrastructure: roads, bridges, water supply and sewage systems, etc. For instance, as a result of a 1998 flood, about 329,000 ha of agricultural land was damaged in Krasnodar Kray (Dangerous Hydrometeorological…, 1983; Ministry of Environment and Nature Resources Protection, the Russian Federation, 1994; GRID-Moscow, 2001). The flood, occurred in West Georgia in 1987 inundated nearly 200-km sq. area, significantly damaged 3.2 thousand and completely destroyed more than 2.6 thousand buildings. Total economic loss amounted to US $300 million (Dangerous Natural Phenomena ..., 2002).

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