TY - JOUR N2 - The purpose of the research is to summarise quantitative characteristics and to analyse the spatial distribution of artificial water bodies as anthropogenic fragmentation elements of medium and small rivers within the Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ukraine. The paper uses current data pertaining to existing reservoirs and mineralisation of water in rivers. Comparison included quantitative characteristics, water surface area, and the volume water in ponds and reservoirs. It has been established that although the total ratio was 97% for ponds to 3% for reservoirs, whereas their water surface area 48%, and the volume of water stored only 23% of the total resources. The paper shows the inexpediency and low efficiency of using ponds as water reservoirs feeding small rivers. Increasing the number of ponds in the river basin has a negative impact on the quality of water resources, in particular, by increasing water mineralisation – total dissolved solids ( TDS). Depending on the river, the following indicator of river basin fragmentation has been determined: 6–20 reservoirs per 100 km2 of the river catchment area, and on average 18–36 ponds and reservoirs are built for every 100 km of the river in relation to the length of the hydrographic network. It has shown the regularity of growing water mineralisation due to the fragmentation of rivers by a large number of artificial reservoirs. A strong correlation between regulation and fragmentation of river basins has been established (coefficient of determination R 2 ranges from 0.72 to 0.91). It proves the possibility to estimate the degree of change (increase) of water mineralisation based on the water flow coefficient K w and the river fragmentation coefficient K s fr in the Dnipropetrovsk Region. The paper offers ways of further research for planning and implementation of a water management strategy concerning ecologically safe levels of water use in small and medium-sized river basins. L1 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/123350/PDF/2022-02-JWLD-10.pdf L2 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/123350 PY - 2022 IS - No 53 EP - 85 DO - 10.24425/jwld.2022.140783 KW - artificial water reservoir KW - quality of water resources KW - pond KW - river KW - river fragmentation KW - water mineralisation A1 - Hapich, Hennadii A1 - Andrieiev, Vasyly A1 - Kovalenko, Volodymyr A1 - Makarova, Tatiana PB - Polish Academy of Sciences; Institute of Technology and Life Sciences - National Research Institute DA - 2022.06.08 T1 - The analysis of spatial distribution of artificial reservoirs as anthropogenic fragmentation elements of rivers in the Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ukraine SP - 80 UR - http://www.journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/123350 T2 - Journal of Water and Land Development ER -