Impact of mini-hydropower on the chemical composition of water and phytoplankton of the reservoirs of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract The peculiarities of the transformation of river ecosystems in the reservoir at the construction of mini-hydropower plants have been found out. It was also found that the large-scale hydraulic engineering in the second half of the XX century caused significant changes in environmental conditions in the waterbodies, which has led to negative dynamics of species richness of aquatic organisms in general and phytoplankton in particular. Reservoir building has a significant negative impact on river ecosystems: currents slow down and disappear, canals become silted up, harmful substances of household and industrial waste gradually accumulate. The transformation of rivers into lake-type reservoirs is also accompanied by changes in the species composition and structure of phytoplankton. Eutrophication of reservoirs becomes typical. All this leads to significant degradation in aquatic ecosystems.