A visionary study of what Russia's greatest waterway may be like a generation from now is the product of a major research project undertaken by environmental experts. Their task was to chart how the mighty Volga can best be protected for the good of those

The 2,300-kilometre artery has fed, watered, moved and powered the lives of more than 40% of Russia's population down the years. So, to nurture the future of this unique natural resource, teams of specialists have assessed the vast, winding eco-system as it links the Baltic and White Seas near the Arctic with the southern Caspian, washing the shores of Iran.

To keep the great river the “lifeblood of Russia” for those still unborn, the international agency UNESCO spent two years on a project to plot the tract’s best course up to the year 2030. Experts in social and environmental sciences, demographic researchers, legal specialists and representatives of cultural organisations put the blueprint together.

Their study examined a course discharging up to 30,000 cubic metres of water charging every second into the landlocked Caspian through a delta of 275 channels covering some 12,000 square kilometres. This is the end of a journey starting in northwest Russia’s Valday Hills, fed down the route, too, by the Moskva, Oka and Kama rivers through forests, steppes and arid zones – drainage land in which half of Russia's farmers live, where more than half of Russia's industry is located.

The Volga river in Astrakhan

The human influence most pre-occupied the experts from Russia and abroad. They studied waters that have been used through history for fishing and navigation, recreation and transport purposes. In modern times, the flow has generated electricity through a series of reservoirs and dams down its length. For the river is no longer as nature intended. Books on the Volga speak today of a drop of water now taking months instead of weeks to travel the river's now interrupted course.

The research set out to tackle issues of erosion, sedimentation, and farming methods which have silted up the reservoirs. The specialists studied massive interference in the lives of the river's prized sturgeon, where the waters are harnessed by a huge hydro-electric power complex near Volgograd.

For stretches have been governed in more recent years by energy demands. Since Soviet dam-builders made their first impressions on the river, sturgeon have been cut off from all but the lowest reaches, their river-long spawning grounds now things of the past.

Man’s influence on the Caspian could threaten further disturbance and the Volga waters reaching the basin itself face influences potentially greater still. These are environmental threats from oil and gas exploration probing the sea bed of a region prone to seismic tremor and the threat of earthquakes. The issues here may be even more alarming.