Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

The Caspian Complex Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natu- ral Resources is the authorized agency for ecolog- ical monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative indicators of anthropogenic impact on the environ- ment in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and its adjacent coastline. State monitoring of water sources and pollution of water sources is carried out by the Department in coastal areas and offshore. Pollution and other environmental indicators in the southern sector of the Caspian Sea are mon- itored by the Meteorological Department of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of the Government of Iran (IRIMO). The Atyrau and Mangystau regional branches of Kazhydromet carry out regular monitoring of the state of marine waters in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea. The Atyrau Region monitoring network consists of 46 sampling points: at the Mar- itime shipping canal, at the Tengiz oilfield, in the Ural River delta-front, in the Middle and North- ern Caspian (near the Kurmangazy, Darkhan and Kalamkas oilfields, near flooded wells and on Ku- laly Island), and along the long-term cross section – Shalygi and Kulaly Islands – and two additional cross sections (National Contribution).

Kazhydromet publishes information on the state of seawater in the State of the Environment of the Kazakhstan Part of the Caspian Sea Fact Sheet (Kazhydromet Fact Sheets 2011-2016) and in a similar publication dedicated to the Aktau Seaport special economic zone. Samples of sea- water and bottom sediment are taken at coastal stations, along long-term cross sections and near oilfields on the shelf of the Northern (Atyrau Re- gion) and Middle (Mangystau Region) Caspian. The suspended solid content, pH, dissolved ox- ygen and biological oxygen demand (BOD5) levels, and concentrations of petroleum hydro- carbons, phenols, total chlorine, phosphates, am- monium, nitrite and nitrate nitrogen and metals (copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, lead, total iron, and chromium6+) of the seawater samples are determined. For bottom sediment samples, the total volume of petroleum hydrocarbons and concentration of heavy metals (copper, nickel, chromium6 +, manganese, zinc, lead and cadmi- um) are analysed. Water sampling is carried out monthly at the Ak- tau Seaport special economic zone (four monitor- ing points). The Kazhydromet branch for Atyrau Region analyses water samples from all monitor- ing points on the basis of 45 indicators, while the analysis by the Mangystau Region branch covers 28 indicators. Water sample analysis is carried out by the Kazhydromet Integrated Laboratories for the Atyrau and Mangystau Regions. During oil and gas exploration in the Kazakh- stan sector of the Caspian Sea, organizations managed by KazMunayGas conduct background environmental studies, environmental impact assessment and subsequent monitoring at every stage of operations. The following indicators are monitored: oil products, phenols, nitrites, ni- trates, ammonium nitrogen, iron, phosphates, salinity, BOD5, dissolved oxygen, temperature, calcium, magnesium, carbonates, hydrogen car- bonates, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and pH (National Contribution). The quality of seawater in the Northern Caspian was assessed as “clean”, and seawater at coastal sta- tions, near the Karazhanbas and Arman oilfields in the Middle Caspian, was assessed as “moder-

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Map by Manana Kurtubadze, GRID-Arendal, April 2018. Sources: SoE-Kazakhstan, 2017; SOI, 2016.

Figure 5.1: Marine water observation network in Russia and Kazakhstan

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