Water resources in the soviet union: Trends and prospects
Soviet growth has placed heavy demands on its water resources. As in capitalist countries, rapid economic development has been accompanied by declines in the quality of the USSR's natural resources. Plans to continue high rates of investment ensure that the problems will worsen unless major efforts are made to meet the challenge. In view of the USSR's relatively limited water endowment, dramatic plans have been made, including serious consideration of immense water diversion schemes. This paper surveys and evaluates trends in Soviet water use. It then examines the impact of the Soviet economic structure on the severity of water resource problems. Simple models of firm behavior indicate that environmental destruction by a Soviet firm may be greater than that by its capitalist counterpart. These microeconomic problems carry over to an aggregate level in view of the national emphasis on construction and industry. Given the critical need for fresh water, the Soviet response has been to plan massive water treatment and diversion projects.
