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Data sources:
С.2. Freshwater abstraction provided by Belstat (National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus)
Belarus is a non-water-stressed country. The annual water exploitation index (WEI) varies from around 2 % to around 5 %. The WEI illustrates the level of the pressure of water abstraction on renewable water resources. Renewable water resources, overall, are under the control of climate conditions. In particular, they are affected by precipitation and actual evapotranspiration. During wet years (high precipitation and low actual evapotranspiration), the WEI would be relatively lower, while in dry years, even though water abstraction remains at the same level, the WEI would be higher. Renewable water resources in Belarus vary greatly from year to year. In 2013, Belarus received 73 900 million m3 of renewable water resources, which was the highest amount received between 1995 and 2017, while 2015 was the worst year, receiving only 29 800 million m3 of renewable water resources. In 2017, the amount of renewable water resources received was 60 400 million m3, which was slightly above the annual average. According to the estimated WEI, Belarus abstracted only 2.3 % of its total renewable water resources in 2017. Therefore, Belarus is regarded as a non-water-stressed country.
Water is mainly abstracted from groundwater resources, while freshwater resources are used less. The strategy on environmental protection of the Republic of Belarus set a target of reducing groundwater abstraction to the level of 700-750 hm3 per year in 2025. The current level of water abstraction from groundwater is still above this target.
A substantial decrease occurred in water abstraction between 1990-2017 due to improvements in water-saving measures, such as the renewal of the water transport infrastructure and using more water-efficient appliances in daily practice. For instance, despite a stable population of around 9.5 million inhabitants, water abstraction per capita has decreased by about 22 % from 2001 to 2017.
According to the UNECE third environmental performance review of Belarus in 2016, water demand continued to decline due to the decrease in economic activities and the spread of water metering.
In addition, decoupling of water abstraction from economic development is also becoming evident in water resources management. For instance, Belarus increased the total gross value added from all economic activities by 47.7 % from 2006 to 2017, whereas water abstraction decreased by 17.7 % over the same time period.
On the other hand, there need to be further reductions in water abstraction, particularly from groundwater, to save at least around an additional 60 hm3 of water abstracted from groundwater in order to reach the national target set by the strategy on environmental protection.