Among the present global problems the most important are the ecological ones. They influence an epistemology of scientific knowledge, basic concepts of economy and sociology. Need for social and philosophical comprehension of the transformations taking place in the society and environment is caused by the need to solve a great number of new and old problems that all human civilization faces. First of all, it belongs to a complex of world outlook problems of inter relations between a human and the nature in the period of globalization and technological revolution.

The subject of the book offered the reader requires an interdisciplinary approach that has been realized by the author not in educational institutions, but in the family - an elementary cell of the social society in an era of changes. The family consisted of three generations experts who actively worked in the fields of higher education, water economy and agriculture, ecology, economics, geoecology and landscape history (landshaftovedeni- ye). On school holidays my relatives who were teachers took me in routes of field studies for geography and geoecology students, and my elder brother, a postgraduate student invited in forwarding trips to inspect consequences of 2002 catastrophic flood in Prielbrusye and the Caucasus Mineralnye Vody. In 2007-2017, working at the Institute of Hydraulic Structures Safety (IB- GTS, the town of Novocherkassk), I participated in different inspections of water bodies and river basins of Voronezh and Rostov regions, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, I visited the Republic of Vietnam. The collected materials complemented with remote methods have defined territorial borders of the research object.

Problem status and actuality of the research. Philosophers call "Nature-mankind" or "Society-nature" totality in it's current state global social- ecological system (The nature of models ... 1986, page 31-32). This system is so oversaturated by communications that "an opinion on extreme complexity even of the formulation of wildlife conservation problems at the level of all biosphere is expressed" (ibid, page 33). It is connected with huge distinctions in temporary parameters of the biosphere and research experience of a certain scientist or any science.

In the last century our planet entered the era of sharp and rapid changes. The scientific and technological revolution has led to deep transformations in societies and in wildlife, and the future of a modern civilization has been under the threat as a result of approaching global ecological crisis. Such fact testifying to extremely quickly changing ecological situation in the world is indicative. In 1987 the Report of the International Commission for Environment and Development (chairman G.K. Brundtland) under the title "Our General Future" has been published. In it on the UN instructions the data and conceptions of thousands of experts from all over the world collected for three years are generalized and conditions of ensuring "sustainable development" of human society are proved. It is strikingly, but in the detailed report of 360 pages the problem of water resources has not sounded. Ten years have not passed as deficiency of fresh water, social and ecological aspects of rational use of water resources have been referred to the most acute world issues.

The main themes of the international decade "Water for life" (2005- 2015) announced by the United Nations General Assembly, are as follows: shortage of pure fresh water; availability of medicine and sanitary services of the population; aspects of water supply; system water resources management; solution of problems of financing, assessment and cost of water and water resources; maintainance of biodiversity and environment; solution of transboundary problems connected with water resources; stoppage of pollution, disasters and crisis phenomena in ecosystems; rational water use in agriculture and power engineering and other problems connected with integrated management of water resources.

Now, according to the UN, over 1,2 billion people have constant deficiency of fresh water, and 2 billion suffer from its lack, and this figure according to forecasts will reach 4 billion. Therefore key problems of the present are rational use of fresh water and ensuring renewability of water resources. Formation of ecological culture, change of world outlook guidelines in the context of increase in nature value for each person becomes the major task, too.

The actuality, practical importance of social and environmental problems of water resources use demand their deep social and philosophical comprehension.

The objective and tasks of the research. Extensive literature is devoted to studying of water resources, but the problems of rational use of waters and water resources in ecological and social aspects are analysed insufficiently. We considered these problems on the example of the European part of Russia and a number of the countries of Asia including several climatic zones.

The tasks following from the research objective are represented in headings of the book chapters and their sections.

The research object are resources of fresh water, the research subject is condition of use of fresh water resources in agriculture of Eurasia.

Information base of the research. In the work the materials received by us in 2007-2017 during work as a part of the Institute of Hydraulic Structures Safety, the town of Novocherkassk are used. The scientific- theoretical base of the book was made by works of the leading home and foreign researchers in the field of philosophy, sociology, environmental management, ecology, geoecology and water resources.

The research technique included: 1) generalization and systematization of the data on social-ecological problems of water resources use (global level); 2) study structure of agricultural lands structure in Eurasia by a remote method (regional level); 3) application of "the basin concept" and the GIS methods when analysing the structure and ecological condition of river basins of the lst-6th orders (local level); 4) on-site investigations of concrete water objects and documentation of consequences of catastrophic floods.

Structure of the work is defined by the research objective and tasks.

Chapter 1 is devoted to social-philosophical comprehension of the problems of water resources use in theoretical and empirical aspects, a role of water resources in displacement of ethnoses and beginnings of modern global risks.

In chapter 2 the results of the research of water resources problem at three hierarchical levels - global, regional and local are stated. As an object of studying at the regional level Eurasia, or rather the European part of Russia and the territory of Asia located southwards of the taiga forests, is chosen. It is made not accidentally - exactly on this area the farmlands supplying about 3 billion people with food are concentrated. The third section of chapter 2 is devoted to the local level of water resources use, i.e. to the natural objects (river basins of the lst-6th orders) and the anthropogenic water supply systems; prospects of the basin concept use in rational nature management and the morphometric analysis of river systems when modelling states of risk and emergency.

In chapter 3 social-ecological and sociocultural factors in formation of rational use of water resources are considered. Recognizing the importance of higher culture of water consumption, valuable regulatives and individual self-control, the author assigns the leading role in implementation of ecopolicy in the sphere of water consumption to public administration.

The practical importance of the research conducted is multiple- aspect and will directly depend on a condition of water management financing. Great potential opportunities are in the basin concept that is applicable: 1) at the interregional and regional levels; when solving problems of distribution of river resources (for example, the Don) between the constituent territories of the Russian Federation located in different climatic zones; 2) at the regional and local levels under regional planning, development of new recreational zones, etc. Modern remote methods, digital satellite maps of the land surface are absolutely insufficiently used in water economy and agriculture, in recreation and in the higher education. Introduction of remote materials into the educational process of geographers and geoecologists is given as an example: our selection of pictures of water bodies in the Central Asia since 2013 is used on studies in a landscape history (landshaftovedeni- ye) and geoecology with students from Turkmenistan (prof. Yu.Ya. Potapenko, nature and geography faculty of the Karachay-Cherkess State University).

During the research, collecting material and its processing the author constantly consulted and cooperated with the following experts:

L. S. Nikolaeva, Doctor of Philosophy (the chair of Philosophy and History of the Don State Agricultural University); V.A. Volosukhin, Doctor of Technics and Ya.V. Volosukhin, general director (ECC "Hydraulic Structures Safety", the town of Novocherkassk); Yu.Ya. Potapenko, Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, professor of Karachay-Cherkess State University (KCSU) after U.D. Aliyev; L.N. Fesenko, Doctor of Technics, professor at the chair of Water Management, Engineering Networks and Environment Protection, the South Russian State Polytechnical University (NP1) after

M. I. Platov and P.A. Kipkeeva, Candidate of Geography (the chair of Physical and Economic Geography of the Karachay-Cherkess State University (KCSU) after U.D. Aliyev, Karachayevsk). The results of our joint studies are reflected in journal publications. The author expresses her sincere gratitude for the help, effective cooperation and constructive criticism to all enumerated scientists and their employees.