Groundwater Level Fluctuations near the Kamennaya Steppe Station as an Indicator of the Climate Change in the Middle Don Basin

The multiyear and intraannual groundwater level fluctuations in the Kamennaya Steppe Reserve located in the Voronezh oblast are analyzed using the data of the water level monitoring in the Dokuchaev pit. The intraannual and long-term variability of the Quaternary aquifer groundwater levels is determined by the dynamics of infiltration water exchange between groundwater and the surface, so directional changes in the water balance at the surface and in the soil should be reflected in the hydrograph of pit levels. The analysis of the relationship between groundwater levels and variability of climatic characteristics was carried out on the basis of a mathematical model of infiltration water exchange in the landscape–aeration zone–groundwater system. The results of the modeling has shown that the groundwater level fluctuations in the pit inherit the multiyear variations in the main regime-forming factors, and the long-term and intraannual variability of these factors and groundwater levels in the 21st century differs from the variability characteristic of the mid-20th century.