The Problem of Water Supply in the Nomadic Way of Management (On the Example of Kalmyk Steppe in the Late 19th - Early 20th Centuries)

Based on the analysis of documentary materials from the funds of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia, the problem of water use and water supply in terms of a nomadic way of management is first examined on the example of the Kalmyk steppe in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The problem of water use and water supply in history has been urgent for nomads, including Kalmyk cattle breeders. For a long time, Kalmykia belonged to the driest area in the south of Russia, and the problem of water supply was always relevant for it. The use of water resources was particularly specific for steppe pastoralists. As is well known, all their life activity in the semi-desert and desert Kalmyk steppes was inscribed in the system of surface sources of fresh water, on the one hand. On the other hand, their entire life process in the summer took place near dug hoods (well-shaped pits) and artesian wells. Kalmykia, both in the natural climatic and economic terms, had its own dissimilarity, which distinguished it from all other provinces of the Russian Empire. In the area, the average annual air temperature is up to +10 °C, the frost-free period is long (on average, 170-180 days a year), and rain in the summer period is scarce (average rainfall is from 180 to 350 mm). The main feature of the climate in the area is its sharp continentality: hot and dry summers with frequent droughts and dry winds, long dry autumns, cold winters with thaws and little snow, and, finally, short springs. These characteristic features of the natural environment, the harsh natural conditions, had a direct impact on the formation of Kalmyk nomads' attentive and reverent attitude to natural resources. The Kalmyks have a centuries-old appreciative attitude to nature, especially to water resources. Living in harsh climatic conditions, the nomads thoroughly guarded their steppe, and, rationally and carefully using their water sources, they sometimes did not allow other khotons to use drinking water from their well (khuduk). In the course of the study, the author classified the water sources of the Kalmyk steppe and made mathematical calculations on the water supply of livestock in the Kalmyk farms of Maloderbetovsky Ulus without taking into account natural reservoirs (lakes, ponds, estuaries, dams). The author proved that the authorities actively supported the initiative of the Kalmyk nomads who sought to reconstruct the old and develop new water bodies on their own. Based on specific material, the author illustrated attempts to solve the problem of water supply by the authorities and the forces of initiative nomadic population in the Kalmyk steppe, one of the most arid regions of the Russian Empire. In general, the author characterized the policy of the imperial authorities in this aspect as half measures.

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