M. M. Uvarov (Moscow)

On the Construction of Reservoirs on Collective Farms

The resolution adopted by the general meeting of the Zheleznodorozhnik agricultural artel in Talovsky District, Voronezh Region, and published in Pravda on May 12, 1940, launched a broad movement to build new reservoirs and restore old ones on collective farms.

By June 1940, this call had met with a widespread response throughout our country. The movement for a reservoir on every collective farm had spread across Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Altai and Krasnodar Territories, and the Voronezh, Kuibyshev, Rostov, Leningrad, Kursk, Tambov, Ryazan, and other regions.

Let us cite a few figures that convey the enormous scale of this work. Voronezh Region has 2,902 ponds, of which 627 need to be restored and approximately 1,000 require repairs of one kind or another (according to June data). By June 1940, 187 new ponds had already been built, and another 601 were planned. Ukraine has approximately 11,000 ponds, with a total water-surface area of 63,000 hectares, and new ponds with a combined area of 34,000 hectares are planned. In Odessa Region alone, approximately 1,500 ponds must be restored or newly built. In Frunzensky District of that region, plans call for restoring 45 destroyed ponds and creating 104 new ones. By June 1, Iskalinsky District of Kuibyshev Region had already produced 20 new dams and ponds and planned to build another 86.

By June, a number of regional executive committees and party organizations—in Voronezh, Kharkov, Kuibyshev, and elsewhere—as well as district organizations, had resolved that no collective farm should be without its own reservoir. The slogan “A Reservoir for Every Collective Farmer,” set forth in the Pravda editorial of June 9, 1940, is now being put into practice throughout our vast country.

Yet, as our press rightly observes, this extraordinarily valuable initiative of the broad masses of collective farmers is not receiving sufficient guidance and assistance from certain local organizations. In Arzamassky District, for example, dams were built that caused the impounded water to spread unexpectedly over 18 km.

In its editorial of July 12, 1940, “Provide Day-to-Day Direction for the Construction of Collective-Farm Reservoirs,” Pravda observes that “the construction of collective-farm reservoirs is a matter of great national importance,” and states: “Party and Soviet organizations and land authorities are obliged to direct and guide this work on a daily basis, to help the collec-

…help collective farmers use the resources available to them properly and rationally to create dams and ponds, and guide them toward a sound decision.”

In light of these directives, the local State Sanitary Inspectorate, the medical staff of the rural medical district, and the local health authorities have an important and honorable task: to help the collective farmers construct a reservoir in such a way that it cannot contribute to the spread of disease, particularly infectious diseases and malaria in particular. A newly created or restored reservoir must be impeccable from a sanitary standpoint.

The state sanitary inspector, the inspector’s assistant, and the medical staff of the rural medical district must participate in the construction of a collective-farm reservoir from the very beginning, starting with the selection of its site.

When a reservoir is also to be used for domestic and drinking-water purposes, it must be located above—that is, upstream of—the settlement or other facilities that could contaminate it.

When a reservoir is used for domestic and drinking-water purposes, a sanitary protection zone must be established around it, especially at the water intake, in accordance with existing sanitary rules and instructions. Local medical workers must explain this to the collective farmers. The local State Sanitary Inspectorate is responsible for instructing the medical staff of the rural medical district and acquainting them with these rules and instructions, and for monitoring, either directly or through local physicians or the most experienced feldshers, how the reservoir is protected from contamination, especially at the point where water is drawn for drinking and other household purposes.

Care must be taken not to site the reservoir on old or new cemeteries, animal burial grounds, refuse dumps, or similar places where the soil is contaminated with organic matter or its decomposition products, or may be infected with bacteria dangerous to humans or animals.

The reservoir basin—that is, its bottom and sides—must be cleared of organic refuse and other contaminants that could impair the physicochemical properties of the water. Accordingly, all trees and shrubs growing in the proposed basin must be cut down, their roots grubbed out, and the vegetation layer (turf) removed beyond the boundaries of the planned reservoir.

The staff of the local State Sanitary Inspectorate and the rural medical district must ensure that rubbish, manure, and organic or harmful waste of any kind are not used as construction material, or together with other construction materials, in building dams and other reservoir structures.

Outlets must be provided to permit periodic water exchange, cleaning of the reservoir basin, and regulation of its water level.

When a new reservoir is constructed or a former one restored, the local State Sanitary Inspectorate or rural medical district must advise the collective farm on antimalarial measures.

One of the principal requirements in this regard is to ensure an adequate depth: during the low-water period, the reservoir must be at least 1 m deep throughout its entire surface area. It is also important that the shoreline be as short as possible—that is, approach a straight rather than a broken line—and form no small bays or backwaters, which mosquitoes favor as breeding sites. Where the banks consist of weak soil, they must be reinforced to prevent the bank surface from sliding into the reservoir, which would in time reduce the depth of the nearshore zone.

In reservoirs with an adequate inflow of water, provision should be made for periodically lowering the water level for 2–3 days to allow the banks to dry and vegetation to be removed.

Care must be taken to ensure that the construction of a reservoir does not create marshy areas or shallowly flooded land in low-lying places. If waterlogging or flooding cannot be avoided, the low-lying parts of the area must be filled in, or the water drained through specially constructed ditches and depressions, the bottoms of which must lie at a depth of at least 1 m.

The state sanitary inspector or the physician of the rural medical district must not only take part in discussions about the construction of a collective-farm reservoir and help the collective farmers with the work, but also give appropriate, clear instructions and ensure that sanitary and antimalarial measures are actually implemented.

The task of the rural medical district’s health workers and the local state sanitary inspectorate does not end there. Once the reservoir is in use, the medical staff of the rural health district, under the direction of the local state sanitary inspectorate, must ensure that the collective farm keeps it properly maintained, prevents it from silting up or becoming polluted, and ensures that it does not become a source of infectious diseases, such as malaria and gastrointestinal diseases.

To prevent silting from deposits carried in from the shoreline, it is recommended that vegetation be planted around the reservoir from the outset. Where slopes lead down to the reservoir, it is in some cases advisable to construct embankments to intercept surface runoff, together with ditches to divert it.

Regional, territorial and district state sanitary inspectors must draw up sanitary regulations for the construction and maintenance of collective-farm reservoirs, adapted to local conditions. Once approved by the appropriate executive committee of the Soviet of Working People’s Deputies, these regulations will be binding on the population.