May 13, 2017
In the first days of May 2017, the Ukrainian government announced completion of the first stage of a new dam at the North-Crimean (Severo-Krymsky) canal at the border with the Crimea. The purpose of the dam is complete blockage of water supplies to the Peninsular. Construction of the concrete erection is assessed approximately 35 million Hrivnas (about 75 million Russian Rubles). Kiev hopes that construction of this dam will lead to “complete dehydration” of the Peninsular and kill the entire agricultural industry. At the same time, the stored water would allow improve irrigation of rural territories in Kherson oblast. The Crimean people are sceptical to the inspired shouts of the Ukrainian authorities: the sluices that take the Dnepr waters had already been blocked three years ago. Though the water supply system of the region has been completely reformed, however the problem still remains critical. The issue of creating an independent water supply system was raised immediately after merging with Russia. The people of the region initially took this cutting the Crimea off from the main water sauce in April 2014 as a catastrophe: at that moment, the canal used to supply up to 85% of the water requirements of the peninsular, but the water was mainly used of irrigation of rural lands. Due to lack of water, the producers had had to refuse from cropping. In one month after initiation of the water blockage, the Ukrainian authorities set a number of requirements, in particular, settling the debt for the supplied water at 5.2 million Rubles, and returning the plant and equipment, which was used in the water supply system of the Peninsular. But the main issue was different – they were going to raise the per cubic meter tariffs for use of the Dnepr waters by 50 times. If the Crimea used to purchase water at 6 kopeks per cubic meter (0.18 Rubles at the currency rate as at May 2014), but the new rate was fixed at three hrivnas per cubic meter (8,76 Rubles. In response to this, Russia proposed signing a contract about advance payment for water. Negotiations with the Kiev authorities were not a success: counter proposals from Crimean authorities did not cause any reaction from the Ukrainian side.
Then the Russian and Crimean government had to start looking for alternative decisions for solution of the issue using their own efforts. For the first stage, they decided to drill 36 wells and build three water supply facilities. In future, there are plans to install a water pipeline across the Kerch Gulf. People got more serious on preservation of existing resources: they got into refurbishment of canals and pipelines: they used to lose up to a quarter of the delivered water through leakages. In a three years’ time, another specific proposal wasa made: construction of a marine water desalination plant. This would require minimum 40 billion Rubles. The “Krimsky titan” plant, a largest in Europe producer of titanium dioxide, is prepared to sponsor this project and this plant will be the largest consumer of the processed water.
During the Ukrainian ruling, canalling of water from the Dnepr to the Crimea was seasonal. It was mainly used for technical needs: the water maintained the operation of industrial plants and irrigation of rural areas. Currently, the Crimean water dams are filled from precipitation and thawing of snow, and the Biyuk-Karasu river waters have been diverted to the Severo-Krimsky canal. For drinking, the Crimea uses water from water wells.
Earlier this year, the Crimean government reported: there would be no deficit of water in 2017. Of course, blocking of the Severo-Krimsky canal was not without consequences. Primarily, this resulted in the quality of water in the Northern Crimea. The levels of hardness and mineralisation are yet to be addressed: increase of water consumption rates from underground storage facilities is causing salination of the strata. In some districts like Krasnoperokopsky and Pervomaysky, water has already been classified as not fit for drinking. Total hardness is 25 mmol per litre at the normal rate of 7, while mineralisation is 6 times higher than the normal rate, established by the “Sanitary norms and rules” (SanP&N). This is associated with the exhaustion of the main sauce of central natural water supplies in the region – Vorontsovsky Water Supply Facility. As a result, some seawater with sea weeds reports to the pipeline, which clogs the pipelines. And the tariffs for use of this salted water are raised year by year.
Water deficit is felt not only in small towns and settlements of the Crimea. To resolve the fresh water resource deficit only in Sevastopol would require 47 billion Rubles and about 18 years. And part of this amount – 3 billion Rubles is planned to cover due to increase of water supply service rates by 30 per cent.
Until recently, the city authorities hoped for implementation of the project for diversion of the Kokkozi River waters to the Sokolinsky water dam. However, due to the complaints of the Bakhchisaraysky district population and the position of the Crimean government the city had to refuse the project.
While the ground water resources are exhausting, it would not be a miss to recall the main water line project from the mainland Russia. The idea was primarily initiated in 2014 by the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, when construction of the project was estimated to be 100 billion Rubles. But in one year’s time, the Crimean authorities started talking of inexpediency of the project. “Diversion of the water to Kerch would require building a large water storage dam. But the area has geological issues. There are problems with water resource deficit in the Kuban itself, for in a low precipitation year they suffer from water resource deficit themselves. Even if we deliver the water to Kerch, it will be necessary to build a canal in parallel for one cannot drive water into the canal backwards of the stream. It is not realistic to develop this project for the sake of Kerch only”, used to say the head of the State Committee for Water Resources of the Republic of Crimea Andrey Lisovsky.
Such an expensive construction of a water pipeline would hardly cover the water supply needs of the Peninsular for 100%. Cost of such water would be very high to use it for technical needs. Currently, most of the Crimean water is used for the needs of the population and the agricultural producers get miserable amounts only. Unfortunately, neither any water from the mainland, nor desalinised water in combination can deliver the historical volumes. Under existing conditions, the Crimean authorities have to rely on drilling of water wells and filling of new water storage dams.
A year ago, at a meeting in Simferopol, the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy announced that the Crimea would get continuous water supply by 2019. He added that the key objectives for the given period were construction of permanent water lines in lieu of temporary and development of the necessary energy infrastructure. “Plans for installation of pipelines must be completed to give us the opportunity to distribute the water resources for supply of the Eastern Crimea primarily, where the situation is critical”, explained the minster.
For the coming tourist season both the population of the Crimea and tourists will have sufficient water. The summer showers and sufficiently high amounts of snowfall during the past winter have allowed filing of the water storage dams. However, even for a mid-term future, the issues of supplying the Republic of Crimea with water, which is fit for drinking and technical water supply needs, will remain unresolved.