Water Supply, State

the waters (and water installations) of the USSR—that is, the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, canals, ponds, and other surface bodies of water and water sources, as well as the water in canals and ponds, under-ground waters, glaciers, inland seas and other inland sea waters of the USSR, and territorial waters (territorial seas) of the USSR (art. 4 of the Principles of Water Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics of 1970).

This water supply belongs to all the people as a whole, and so it is the exclusive property of the state. The components of the state water supply are made available to the population, enterprises, institutions, and organizations only for use, since except for the state there can be no owner of waters on the territory of the USSR.

The state water supply encompasses that part of the water substance which is in its natural environment within the borders of the USSR. Not included in the state water supply is water which is a component of plant and animal organisms, rocks, and the atmosphere, as well as water derived from a natural environment and located in water-pipe systems, vessels, and tanks.

In order to calculate the state water supply, a water cadastre is conducted; it includes the quantitative and qualitative properties of the waters and the degree of their use; a state registration of water utilization is also conducted.

The administration of the state water supply is carried out by bodies of the USSR and the Union republics and by local governmental bodies within the limits of their jurisdiction. The supply is utilized in accordance with the plans and with the general and basin-wide schemes of overall use and preservation of water resources and water-supply balances. Officials and citizens guilty of unlawful administration and use of water and of other violations of the law regarding the exclusive state ownership of water, of arbitrary and willful use of hydroengineering works, or of soiling or polluting the state water supply are held responsible according to established procedure.