METHODOLOGY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROBLEMS CAUSED BY RESERVOIRS ON THE SEASHORE.

Geological, demographic, climatic (present-day eustasy) and anthropogenic (reservoirs, urban loadings) factors play an active role in the formation of the coastal zone. The anthropogenic factor acts against the background of natural factors and depending on the direction of their vectors increases or decreases. In such circumstances, it is expedient to create a long-term forecast of coastal dynamics using proven methods. In contrast to them, in order to study the anthropogenic factor, i.e., the impact of the reservoir on the state of coastal beaches, a new method for studying the limiting volume of the silting prism of a reservoir has been proposed. Therefore, for the longterm prediction of the dynamics of a specific section of the seashore under the influence of the reservoir, a methodology should be used, that, together with it, combines the research methods of the factors operating in the region. Such a technique has been first tested on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, in the Chorokhi delta, where the sea threatened the city of Batumi with complete destruction after river sediments were blocked in recent years by a cascade of six reservoirs. According to the forecast made by this technique, the coast of the city will no longer receive beach-forming sediments within a millennium. Taking into consideration that the sea annually carries away a large amount of beach-building material from the delta, the city of Batumi and the entire delta are threatened with a complete abrasive collapse. The long-term forecast created using the new method makes it possible to determine timely the duration of the impact of reservoirs on the coast, the risks of natural disasters, and start permanent artificial backfilling of the coast with sediments and its strengthening with appropriate anti-abrasive structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]