On November 19, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Every fifth agricultural facility in the water protection zones within the Vitebsk region has been identified by ecologists as potentially hazardous and will be relocated outside the zone within the next two years, Ruslan Vinokurov, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told a BELTA correspondent. The regional committee is developing a regional program to improve the condition of water bodies. During the work on the program, committee specialists surveyed all 424 agricultural facilities located within the water protection zones. 90 of them pose a potential threat to the environment. As a rule, these are livestock farms built in the 1960s, most of which have fallen into disrepair. The program provides for the elimination of these facilities within the next two years. Currently, the development of projects for water protection zones and coastal strips has been completed in the region, and measures to eliminate the harmful impact on water quality have been determined. More than 800 facilities that affect water quality, including farms, warehouses for mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and lubricants, have already been relocated from the water protection zones and coastal strips. Scientific research has been conducted to assess the current state and the impact of anthropogenic load on the quality of the region's reservoirs. 93 reservoirs in 16 districts of the region have been surveyed. The greatest anthropogenic load is experienced by lakes Velikoye, Kagalnoye, Lyadno, Lukomskoye, Miorskoye, and Rossono. -0-

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