At the Dominion of the Disasters: Rural Communities of Yakutia in the Conditions of Floods of the Twentieth Century (on the Example of the Village of Khotochu, Zhemkonsky 1st Nasleg, Khangalassky District)

The purpose of this study is to identify optimal strategies for the survival and development of small settlements in the Arctic region facing threats of a sharp change in the water balance of adjacent territories caused by Climatic changes. The territory of Yakutia occupies majority areas not only in the Arctic zone of Russia, but also in the world. The impact of Climate change in Yakutia will accordingly affect the local, regional, Russian and global levels. As an illustrative example, the small Yakut village of Khotochu, located on the banks of the Lena river and regularly exposed to the threat of flooding, is taken. To this end, the authors of this study collected materials from the archive of the municipality "Zhemkonsky 1st nasleg", which includes the village of Khotochu, official documents of departmental organizations, annual reports of heads of municipalities and already published scientific articles. Also in September 2021, field materials (interviews and questionnaire survey data) were collected directly in the village and in the surrounding areas. As a result, the authors identified the current socio-economic situation of this settlement, its history, the main problems faced by the villagers, the measures taken by administrative authorities at various levels, as well as the opinion of local residents. The vulnerability of the village of Khotochu to the negative consequences of water resources is characterized. Based on the study of the experience of adaptation of the residents of the village of Khotochu to the floods of the twentieth century, the decisions taken by the authorities to ensure the safety of population in Yakutia, based on the results of the study, recommendations were made to administrative and governing bodies of various levels to minimize hydrological risks and adopt more effective adaptive strategies.