Ukrainian mass media daily report on the consequences of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Constant shelling of front-line towns and villages, regular missile strikes on Zaporіzhzhіа, destroyed homes of civilians, destroyed infrastructure facilities – all this became a reality brought by the Russian Federation.
The crimes of the Russian Federation cause irreparable damage not only to the residents of the region, but also to the environment.
At the end of last year, they started talking about the next consequences of the Russian invasion for the environment of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The cause of the record-breaking drop in the water level in the Kakhovsky Reservoir was damage to structures and deliberate actions of the occupiers. The Russians deliberately and purposefully opened the sluice gates of the Kakhovskaya HPP, which continues to be under their control, and from November 2022 they began to release water, allegedly fearing the Ukrainian military’s forcing of the Dnieper. Thus, creating significant humanitarian and environmental problems for the residents of Ukraine who live upstream of the Dnieper, as well as a threat to the operation of the nuclear facility.
As reported by the Environmental Protection Department of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, the mark of the normal support level of the Kakhovsky Reservoir is 16.0 meters. The minimum water level in the Kakhovsky Reservoir recorded this year was about 14 meters. There has been a record shallowing of the Kakhovsky Reservoir over the past several decades.
On the rocks on the banks of the Old Dnieper near Khortytsia, it is perfectly visible how great the water level was reduced – up to two meters
A significant decrease in water led to several environmental consequences at once: first of all, the death of a large number of fish, problems with the water supply of a number of settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, the shallowing of the floodplain of the protected island of Khortytsi, and threats to the cooling system of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which takes water from the reservoir.
Khortytsia. The water level around the island is as close to historical as possible
A significant decrease in water in the Dnipro below the Dnipro HPP dam due to damage to the Kakhovskaya HPP affected the Khortytsia National Reserve – the floodplain part of the island. This is due to the fact that the Khortytskyi lakes are directly connected to the waters of the Dnipro and depend on the water level in it.
Khortytsia is located on an important bird flight corridor – the so-called Dnipro cross-border migration route. Plakha usually remained to rest on the island, waiting out adverse weather conditions. But due to the draining of the canals, we could lose such a complex.”
“On Khortytsia, the dehydration of the flood zone was more or less mild. Fortunately, the water receded gradually, which, together with the peculiarities of the relief of the bottom of the reservoirs, allowed the fish to enter the deeper channel sections of the lakes and the Dnipro River. There were isolated cases, we had to collect fry and crayfish in buckets and take them to the channel part of the Old Dnieper, – the reserve said.
The employees of the reserve used the new circumstances to conduct natural and archaeological research, map the contours of the lakes, clean the shorelines and drained areas of the bottom from debris, which would otherwise be impossible.
Zaporizhzhia NPP. Risk to the cooling system of the station
The decrease in the water level in the Kakhov reservoir had negative consequences not only for the biosphere of the Zaporizhzhia region, but also constituted a great safety factor for the operation of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
“The level of 13.2 meters is the minimum for taking water into the cooling tank of the Zaporizhzhya NPP. If the water supply is stopped, there will be problems with the cooling of the reactors, which will lead to a disaster,” said Gennadiy Timchenko, the first deputy head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration, in early February.
Zaporizhzhia NPP
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe
The International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations (IAEA), whose permanent mission has been working continuously at the site of the temporarily occupied plant since September 2022, also reacted to the decrease in the water level in the Kakhov reservoir, from which cooling water is supplied to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Although the lowering of the water level does not currently pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, it may become a source of concern if the process continues. This once again demonstrates the many potential risks for a large nuclear power plant in wartime and underlines that we must never be complacent about its safety and security,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
“According to the project of the station, a large cooling pond is located near the units of the ZNPP, so the water level in it is higher than the level of the Kakhovsky Reservoir. However, there are still grounds for concern,” concluded representatives of the state operator of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Energoatom.
Drinking water: in Berdyansk, Russians are already forced to restore the operation of drinking hydrants
The critical decrease in the water level in the water area of the Kakhovsky Reservoir almost did not affect the provision of drinking water to the population of the enemy-free territory of the Zaporizhzhia region. As the regional military administration said, the two most powerful drinking water intakes in Zaporizhia, from which consumers in the northern regions of Zaporizhia Oblast also receive drinking water through main water pipes, are located above the Dnipro hydroelectric dam. Therefore, their work does not depend on the water level in the water area of the Kakhov reservoir.
Problems with drinking water supply in the front-line territory of Zaporizhzhya region are primarily related to constant shelling and lack of electricity supply.