Purpose: to determine the degree of state of knowledge of the ecological and reclamation state of irrigated lands in the south of Western Siberia. Materials and methods: an analysis of a large array of literary sources, archival documents, data of state statistics concerning the reclamation state of lands in the south of Western Siberia was made. Results. As a result of the research it was found: despite the fact that Russia has significant water resources, in a number of regions there is an acute shortage in water, primarily due to the uneven distribution of water resources over the territory, and, as a consequence, land potentially suitable for agricultural cultivation is underutilized. In this regard, it is important to use water resources more efficiently, including local runoff, on the basis of which estuary irrigation can be widely used in the arid zones of our country. The manifestation of the negative consequences of irrigation, leading to a productivity decrease of the irrigated lands, is due to the poor study of the territories allocated for irrigation facilities, the lack of agricultural technologies adapted to the natural conditions of a particular zone. The problems of soil irrigation in Western Siberia are identical to those of irrigated soils in the European part of Russia. However, the natural conditions of Western Siberia differ from those of European Russia, which leaves its mark on the processes occurring in the soil. Conclusions: at the moment, in most farms, the area of irrigated land has been significantly reduced (by about 40 %). Due to the uncontrolled and unscientific approach to irrigation, these lands are in an unsatisfactory reclamation state, and some of them have been completely withdrawn from agricultural use. To improve the current situation and eliminate the negative consequences of improper irrigation, it is necessary to resume research in this area and assess the state and prospects for restored irrigation of lands in the south of Western Siberia.
