Impacts of post-Soviet land-use transformation on sediment dynamics in the Western Caucasus

Post-Soviet land-use transformations in the Western Caucasus significantly altered sediment dynamics, marked by a sharp increase in erosion rates from 1975 to 2005 followed by a decline. The study, focusing on the Krasnodar Reservoir—a key artificial reservoir in the region—revealed that these changes were primarily driven by land-use shifts, particularly in arable and pastoral lands, rather than precipitation patterns. Using repeated bathymetric surveys and gauging station measurements, researchers also demonstrated the effectiveness of Top-Kriging modeling to predict sediment yield in ungauged basins with high accuracy (NSE = 0.63). This approach offers a robust method for semi-regional-scale predictions, providing critical insights into the long-term impacts of political and economic transitions on hydrological systems.

Tsyplenkov, A., Grachev, A., Yermolaev, O., & Golosov, V. (2025). Impacts of post-Soviet land-use transformation on sediment dynamics in the Western Caucasus. Journal of Hydrology, 656, 132965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132965