Nowadays the Ukrainian legal doctrine of law is lacked of adequate analyzes of the legal regime of lands of water fund in its historical context. This issue becomes more urgent with the necessity to interpret the value of these categories of land and their effective use. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze the legislation that had been in force on the territory of modern Ukraine in different historical periods, including times of staying under the Russian Empire jurisdiction. And it is important to distinguish the issues relating to the legal regulation of the water fund lands (in its modern sense). Analysis of recent researches and publications. The importance of issues raised in the article influenced on the choice of the subject, some aspects of which being discussed in the works of such representatives of law of the land science as L. I. Dembo, A. P. Hetman, I. I. Karakash, R. I. Marusenko, A. M. Miroshnichenko, A. A. Pogrebnoy, N. V. Shulga and others. The object of the article is to analyze the legislation of Ukrainian lands during its staying under the Russian Empire jurisdiction, and also to distinguish the issues relating to the legal regulation of the water fund lands (in its modern sense). The main part. The issue of forming of the legal regime of lands of water fund (in its modern sense) during Ukrainian lands staying under the Russian Empire jurisdiction had been examined and as a result, the provisions relating the legal regulation of this category of land were distinguished. A distinctive feature of that period is focus on coastal waters and land protection, the negative influence of water control that had been fixed in law for the first time ever. During this period there had been attempts to synthesize water legislation, irrigation and reclamation (drainage and irrigation of land) had actively been developed, the need for common use waters and coastal zones had been recognized. In our opinion, at this time there had been laid the backgrounds for distinguishing of lands of water fund into a separate category for appropriate water bodies’ protection. Conclusions of the research. Based on these considerations, it can be stated that the period of staying under Russian Empire jurisdiction had a significant influence on the formation of legal regulation of land water resources in its modern sense on the territory of Ukraine and it can be distinguished as a separate legal regime of lands of water fund of Ukraine.

Рассмотрено формирование правового режима земель водного фонда (в современном их понимании) во время пребывания Украинских земель в составе Российской империи и из проведенного анализа законодательства выделены положения, касающиеся правовой регламентации земель данной категории.