Ecological pressures on the Kura River and sustainable pathways for pollution control, water conservation and biodiversity protection

Abstract

The Kura River is a transboundary freshwater system linking upstream, middle-basin and downstream communities, agriculture, infrastructure and ecosystems across the South Caucasus. This study restructures and extends an original educational research project on the ecological problems of the Kura River while preserving its central themes, visual materials, tables and ten-question survey instrument. The source project identified three interrelated pressure groups: water-quality deterioration and transboundary pollution, declining water availability and hydrological alteration, and biodiversity loss associated with habitat change, river regulation and riparian degradation. The present article evaluates these themes through a structured narrative review supported by recent monitoring, biodiversity, water-security and green-economy literature. The analysis confirms that water quantity and water quality should be assessed separately but jointly, because usable water can decline through both reduced availability and deteriorating chemical or ecological condition. Recent Kura monitoring shows longitudinal changes in major-ion composition, while regional studies identify anthropogenic pressure, altered hydrology and riparian degradation as important ecosystem concerns. The original project’s proposed solutions—water conservation, efficient irrigation, wastewater treatment, rainwater harvesting, reuse, riverbank clean-up, ecological education and transboundary monitoring—are reframed as elements of integrated and circular water management. The article concludes that Kura River protection requires coordinated monitoring, pollution prevention, resource-efficient water use, nature-based restoration and biodiversity-sensitive river management, with future research based on traceable datasets and repeatable field measurements.