ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITY ON GROUNDWATER STATUS OF SOUTH KAZAKHSTAN

The main reserves of fresh groundwater in South Kazakhstan are confined to aquifers of Quaternary, Neogene, Paleogene, Cretaceous deposits of Artesian basins. They play a major role in the water supply of the population with drinking water, especially large water consumers. Fractured water basins are characterized by significantly smaller reserves of fresh groundwater, but their widespread distribution in the region is of practical interest for the water supply of smaller water consumers. The anthropogenic impact on groundwater has become especially noticeable in the current century due to the development and intensification of industry and agriculture, the growth of large cities and the expansion of urbanized territories. Intensification of the anthropogenic load on the resource potential of groundwater and associated ecosystems leads to a progressive deterioration of ecological and hydrogeological conditions in South Kazakhstan. This is primarily due to the depletion of groundwater resources, the formation of depression craters and water retention zones, groundwater pollution, which significantly affects the natural environment and human habitat. These negative changes occur especially intensively in areas of mining, oil and gas production and chemical industry development, characterized by significant changes in the existing water exchange, which is caused by violations of the water balance in the subsurface caused by the drainage of mineral deposits during their extraction, the exploitation of groundwater for domestic and industrial water supply and drainage systems, and also presence of industrial and household untreated effluents.