Rosvodresursy Adopts Smart Reservoir Management

Russia’s Federal Water Resources Agency has taken a major step in the digitalization of water management. At an expanded board meeting on August 8, 2025, it announced plans to automate reservoir operations—an initiative aimed at boosting efficiency, minimizing flood risks, and enhancing ecological safety.

From the Volga to the Yenisei

Russia is rich in water resources—over 2.5 million rivers flow through its territory. Automating reservoir management is not just a technical upgrade but a strategic decision that directly impacts the safety and quality of life for millions. Modern systems will enable rapid responses to water level changes, prevent reservoir overflows, and minimize flood damage.

Similar technologies have already proven effective in the energy sector—RusHydro, for instance, uses smart algorithms to manage hydropower plants. This expertise can now be scaled to the entire national water management system.

In the future, Russian solutions may also attract interest from other countries, especially those facing high flood risks or complex hydrotechnical infrastructure challenges.

The volume of data is growing, and the tasks we face are becoming more complex. The future lies in digitalizing these processes. And not only this: when we talk about floods, regulation, and so on, we also need to digitize reservoirs and create digital passports to account for all their features. We need to digitize everything. This is already today’s challenge

Dmitry Kirillov

Head of the Federal Water Resources Agency

Massive Water Data

In recent years, Rosvodresursy has developed digital services, introducing online tools, personal accounts, and automated interagency interaction. It launched the 'Water Data' digital platform, which provides daily updates on the nation’s water situation and supports planning for water-related projects. The system maintains the State Water Register—the main source for government services. The share of electronic requests rose from 56% to 78% in one year.

Its 'Open Data' service, which instantly delivers information about water bodies, has proven highly popular, with over 40,000 requests. Each year, the agency processes more than 3,000 funding applications for projects such as hydraulic facility construction, riverbed dredging, and other works. Of these, 30% with the greatest social impact are prioritized. For budgeting and application review, Rosvodresursy has implemented BPM solutions and AI tools.

Reservoir monitoring is conducted using unmanned boats and aerial systems (UAS) equipped with AI, cutting data processing time by half.

Water Management in the Digital Era

In 2024, as part of the national 'Ecology' project, more than 600 kilometers of rivers and 24,000 hectares of shallow reservoir zones were cleared nationwide. Under the federal 'Water of Russia' program within the 'Ecological Well-being' national project, 81 initiatives are underway across 43 regions. The key goal is to protect the population from harmful water impacts, particularly floods. More than 300,000 people will benefit from river cleaning and hydraulic facility repairs.

Automating reservoirs is only part of a broader transformation of water management. In the coming years, smart forecasting systems will be expanded, and new services will be accelerated by integration with BPM/low-code platforms such as Comindware. This is not merely infrastructure modernization but a significant contribution to ecological security and the country’s sustainable development. Judging by the pace of digitalization, early results are likely to appear soon.