The history of the study of the water resources in the Smolensk province in the XVIII - early XX centuries

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2021-10, Vol.867 (1), p.12115
• Main Author: Erman, N M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cartography; Environmental conditions; Geography; Natural resources; Resource exploration; River systems; Riverheads; Rivers; Territory; Transportation systems; Water resources; Watersheds
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/867/1/012115

Natural wealth is one of the foundations for the cultural development and economic prosperity of all countries and peoples. In Russia, great importance has always been attached to the study of water resources. It was the rivers that served as the backbone for the entire transport system of Russia since the founding of the early Russian state. In the geographical works by various scientists, researchers and statesmen, particular attention was always given to riverheads, portages, possibility of connecting different river systems by canals, and navigational conditions. In the XIX – early XX centuries, watershed areas received the status of specially protected territories. The study of the history of the development and exploration of natural resources in the Smolensk province, as a unique territory located on the western borders of Russia and along the watershed of the Dnieper, Volga and Western Dvina rivers, made it possible to compile existing data and provided an opportunity to enhance knowledge on the region’s environmental conditions and natural resources. It also allowed one to trace the connection between geographical study and the processes of territory development and exploration, and to determine the contribution of the authorities, government departments, scientific institutions, and individual researchers to the understanding and knowledge of the geography of the region. Since the beginning of the XVIII century, the territory of the Smolensk province became a testing ground for numerous cartographic and geographical research activities, which later served to shape the scientific understanding of natural resources and several academic (geographic) disciplines. It was in the province of Smolensk where the work carried out by V.V. Dokuchaev, D.N. Anuchin, A.A. Tillo, and P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky for the first time acquired comprehensive nature and consequent major importance for the formation of modern physical geography.