Water Cadastre

Water Cadastre 

a systematic compilation of data concerning the water resources of a country. In the USSR a water cadastre for inland waters was first prepared and published by the State Hydrological Institute in 1933-40. Materials on the hydrological regimes of the rivers of the USSR (20 • installments), data on water levels (27 installments), and regional reference manuals (27 installments) were included in this cadastre. The Hydrological Yearbook and materials compiled from observations by specialized stations and published by the Hydrometeorological Service of the USSR were a continuation of these editions.

The water cadastre was the first major work that summarized all the materials of hydrological observations and research; it facilitated improvement of the planning, design, and use of water-supply installations. It has also furthered the development of hydrology as a science. As a consequence, a considerable amount of new material was accumulated based on observations and research on bodies of water in the USSR, the level of scientific work was essentially raised, and the requirements of the national economy for hydrological data were increased. This made it necessary to draw up a new water cadastre, entitled Surface Water Re-sources of the USSR. The new water cadastre consists of three series, each of which is divided into several dozen installments. The first series, Hydrological Knowledge, consists of 44 installments. Each installment contains a list of the bodies of water in a given territory, along with their morphometric characteristics and data concerning stationary observations of specific elements of the hydrological regimes of rivers and lakes and about field investigations in progress. The second series, Fundamental Hydrological Characteristics, consists of 42 installments. It contains thoroughly analyzed tabular materials with an explanatory text concerning the hydrological regimes of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, compiled from data gathered from observations by the net-work of the Hydrometeorological Service of the USSR and other departments. The third series, Surface Water Resources of the USSR, is a practical reference manual for planning and water-conservation organizations, to be used for calculating hydrological characteristics. It is based on scientific analysis and summaries of data gathered from observations by a network of stations and posts, as well as on special experimental and field investigations. This series includes 42 installments, of which 24 had been published by 1970.

A. I. CHEBOTAREV