Russia Tightens Lake Baikal Environment Monitoring

摘要

Russia has moved to tighten environment monitoring rules designed to protect Lake Baikal, the world's deepest freshwater lake. On Feb. 3, the federal government released Decree No. 85, which stipulates that the federal government will take over environmental monitoring procedures from several agencies, including Russia's environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor. The move, considered an effort to more closely monitor and protect the lake, came a day after Russia voiced concern that Baikal's water level was nearing a critical threshold. Lake Baikal's water level dropped to 456.06 meters above sea level, just 0.06 meters short of the threshold that would require limiting water consumption by hy-dropower plants in Russia's Irkutsk region. The water-preserving and power-saving measures could affect more than 230,000 people in the Irkutsk region, according to a government statement. Russia has international obligations to protect Lake Baikal, which contains nearly one-fifth of the globe's unfrozen surface freshwater and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.