Water reserves in Crimea's reservoirs have decreased by 11 million cubic meters

During September, the water level in Crimean reservoirs dropped by nearly 7%. Many local rivers dried up completely in early fall. 

This was reported by Suspilne.Crimea. 

Currently, the total natural runoff reserves in the reservoirs amount to approximately 150 million cubic meters. According to Ilya Nikolenko, head of the Department of Chemical Technologies for Water Use at the Institute of Biochemical Technologies, Ecology, and Pharmacy at Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, this level corresponds to the long-term average. 

At the same time, one of Crimea’s local historians and tour guides noted that most reservoirs in Crimea have seen a significant drop in water levels, and many rivers entered the fall season completely dry.

According to the local historian, dry weather prevailed on the peninsula in July and August, which reduced the flow of mountain rivers. In particular, the Burulcha River dried up completely.

As a result, reservoirs are receiving less water, while water releases from some reservoirs have increased. As an example, the local historian cited the Belogorsk Reservoir, from which water supply to southeastern Crimea was resumed in August. After that, its reserves began to decline rapidly.

The regional expert notes that this situation is generally typical for Crimea at this time of year, but it is exacerbated by intensive development along the Black Sea coast. In his opinion, without changes in approaches to water resource use, the shortage could spread from the southeast to the central part of the peninsula.

Юлія Калабайда