After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia faced an acute problem of providing the peninsula with fresh water due to the closure of the North Crimean Canal. Official Russian propaganda actively disseminated information about allegedly successful measures to solve this problem. However, the reality turned out to be completely different.

How now, after 10 years of occupation of the peninsula, Crimea receives fresh water, "Ukrainian Energy" learned.

"Our Crimea"

As is known from history, the Crimean region was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR on February 19, 1954 by a decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The official reason for this decision was called "economic community and territorial proximity". However, this step also had a significant economic basis - because after the Second World War, Crimea, like many other regions of the USSR, suffered significant destruction. The transfer of the peninsula to Ukraine was seen as a way to speed up its recovery through closer economic ties.

The construction of the North Crimean Canal, which at that time was one of the largest engineering projects of the Soviet Union aimed at solving the problem of water supply in Crimea, became a rather powerful and effective method for such restoration. This canal, which began on the Dnipro River, supplied the peninsula with fresh water, radically changing its economy and ecology.

The idea of supplying water to Crimea from the mainland of Ukraine arose during the time of the Russian Empire, but was implemented under the Soviet government. The construction of the canal began on the basis of a government decree in 1950. The work was carried out intensively, involving a large number of people and equipment. And the channel itself was officially opened in October 1963. This event became a landmark for Crimea, opening up new prospects for the development of agriculture. After all, Crimea is a peninsula with insufficient natural precipitation, so an additional source of fresh water was critically needed.

Immediately after the appearance of the North Crimean Canal, significant and positive changes began on the peninsula. With the appearance of Dnieper water in the Crimea, rapid irrigation of lands began, which allowed to develop the cultivation of grain, rice, fruit and grapes. Large volumes of water entering the canal significantly affected the water balance of the peninsula, changing natural landscapes and ecosystems. And thanks to the development of agriculture, the number of jobs increased, which contributed to the development of settlements in Crimea.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the North Crimean Canal was under the control of Ukraine, which was the most logical. The canal continued to be the main source of fresh water for Crimea until 2014.

Under sanctions

After Russia's occupation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine closed the North Crimean Canal, which led to an acute water crisis on the peninsula. A temporary dam was erected on the territory of the Kherson region, blocking the North Crimean Canal. This physically prevented the supply of water to the peninsula. Also, the pumps that provided the rise of water in the Krasnoperekopsk region (northern Crimea) were turned off.

This became one of the most acute environmental and humanitarian consequences of the occupation.

However, for Ukraine, this was a strategic decision aimed at weakening Russian control - the closure of the canal deprived the occupied Crimea of the main source of fresh water, which significantly complicated the life of the local population and economic activity. This was one of the ways to pressure Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine. By cutting off drinking water, the Ukrainian authorities also tried to reduce the military threat to the country as a whole - it's no secret that control over fresh water is an important factor in any conflict.

Such a result became the popular propaganda slogan of the Russians, which they widely distributed in 2014 - "Crimea is ours."

Water for a military base

Meanwhile, the problems just piled up. After all, the Russians transferred a significant number of troops to the occupied peninsula, militarizing the peninsula and creating a huge military base there. Civilians, fueled by propaganda, rushed to the peninsula in search of a better life, and the Russian elite did not sit idly by, quickly "grabbing" tasty pieces of land near the sea and building villas, recreation centers and hotels there.

What is the cost of the occupiers' projects to create a gaming zone on the peninsula - five years ago it was going to be built in Katsiveli, and already this year it was planned to be built in the seaport of Yalta. However, these are only plans - because, as the project to build a giant casino in Katsiveli showed, the Russians do not know how to solve the problem with water supply and sewage in the luxury building of the gaming area.

One way or another, however, the Russians had to make do with fresh water on the peninsula.

The occupiers did not invent anything - they built new water intake structures, dug wells, and pulled water intakes. However, their number and productivity turned out to be insufficient to cover the needs of the peninsula. Several desalination plants have been launched, but their capacity is limited and cannot fully solve the problem of fresh water scarcity. In addition, desalination is an energy-intensive process, which leads to additional costs. The Russian authorities urged the population to conserve water, introduced restrictions on its use, schedules. However, these measures could not fundamentally change the situation.

Despite all measures, there is still an acute shortage of fresh water in Crimea. The population faces constant water supply interruptions, especially in the summer. The quality of drinking water in many regions of Crimea has deteriorated due to overloading of existing water supply systems. And the irrational use of water resources leads to depletion of groundwater, pollution of water bodies and degradation of ecosystems, which are unique in Crimea.The actions of the occupiers, among other things, began to lead to soil salinization and depletion of aquifers, which in the future could result in ecocide.

During the 10 years of occupation of the peninsula, even Russian tourists have already become disappointed in their vacations - because the problem of water shortage in Crimea does not attract even undemanding Russians who are used to vacationing in economy class.

That is, what Ukraine nurtured, built and cultivated since Soviet times - now the occupiers are destroying at an accelerated pace. Instead, the Russian authorities are more interested in maintaining control over Crimea than in actually improving the lives of its population.

Lies and lies

At the end of 2020, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made a loud statement - at another press conference, he declared that there are sufficient reserves of fresh water under the Sea of Azov.

"Considering everything, there are enough reserves of good fresh water in Crimea, it's just that they were not engaged in this even in Soviet times, and even more so, when Crimea was part of Ukraine. Currently, these works are being carried out widely," said the president of the aggressor country.

According to the Russian president, it is necessary to search for water under the Sea of Azov, funds are already allocated for this.

"Experts say that water reserves are good in the water areas adjacent to Crimea, under the Sea of Azov, and we will solve the problem," he said.

And already six months later, the occupying "head" of Crimea, Serhiy Aksyonov, claimed that studies confirmed the presence of fresh water under the Sea of Azov. However, information about the prospects for its use was constantly postponed indefinitely. In the end, this idea was completely forgotten - because the Russians had more important things to do, such as destroying Bakhmut or Avdiivka.

The most interesting thing is that in 2021, the occupying state allocated 70 million per year for conducting geological exploration in the Sea of Azov to find fresh water that could be used in the occupied Crimea. subsidy rubles.

Kakhovskaya HPP

On June 6, 2023, Russian invaders blew up the Kakhovskaya HPP. This act of terrorism had catastrophic consequences not only for the regions controlled by Ukraine, but also for the occupied Crimea.

As a result of the explosion, the Kakhovskaya HPP dam was completely destroyed, which led to a massive discharge of water from the reservoir.

The fact is that the operation of the main structures of the North Crimean Canal is tied to the water level in the Kakhov reservoir. As soon as it became shallow after the explosion at the hydroelectric power plant, the canal itself began to become shallow. At the same time, the occupiers said that "there are no problems", but experts familiar with the situation in Crimea indicated even then that the water shortage due to the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP will only worsen.

There are 23 reservoirs operating on the territory of Crimea, some of which are directly filled from the North Crimean Canal, and some due to "natural runoff" - precipitation. Those that were filled exclusively with Dnieper water were the first to become shallow. The rate of shallowing of reservoirs usually depends on only two factors — the average air temperature and the amount of precipitation. And Crimea, as you know, is famous for heat and insufficient rainfall.For example, August seemed dry and hot in Crimea due to the fact that tropical air masses prevailed in the region. According to forecasters, the average monthly temperature of +24.9 degrees was 1.6 degrees above the long-term norm.

"Due to the Russians' detonation of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam, all the main infrastructure of the North Crimean Canal in the territory of the Kherson region has been destroyed. Currently, it will not be technically possible to raise the water level in the canal even due to the operation of the pumps," military expert Vladyslav Seleznyov noted.

As part of ongoing cooperation with UN institutions, the Crimean Reintegration Association sent relevant materials to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, Professor Pedro Arrojo-Agudo.

The experts noted that in 2022, Russian troops carried out constant provocations with the North Crimean Canal, and that the main negative consequences of global warming for Crimea are the destruction or damage, due to climate change, of natural ecosystems and territories of traditional agriculture, namely: the desertification of Western Crimea, reduction of the forests of the Crimean Mountains, salinization of the soils of the Central and Eastern Crimea.

The message added that all these negative consequences have a harmful effect on the social and humanitarian potential of the region, including the right to water and many others, and that it seems that negative climate changes are not a side effect of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but are one of its main goals.

Also in the message, the Association reminded the UN that on World Water Day 2024, the Russian military launched a missile attack on the Dnipro HPP in the city of Zaporizhzhia in an attempt to destroy the station's dam and create a new disaster with flooding and loss of water resources.
The statement added that international environmental crimes against water and sanitation are a fundamentally new phenomenon for victims of criminal acts, including issues such as reparations, a particular challenge to the collective rights of territorial communities and groups most affected by such crimes.

Thus, the occupiers "shot themselves in the foot" by their own actions.

Shortage of water

Last month, the mass media reported that at the foot of Chatyr-Dag mountain on the border of the Alushta city district and the Simferopol district, Kutuzovsky Lake has been drying up for a long time. At the bottom of the reservoir, they even made a stone labyrinth.

"Only a plaque remained from Kutuzovsky Lake - it became another victim of the water shortage that is developing in Crimea. It was last full in 2021. The fact is that the reservoir was fed by spring water, but the main source was captured and a water pipeline was laid from it to the village of Verkhnia Kutuzivka. Smaller keys have dried up. After that, water appeared in the lake only occasionally at the end of winter - at the beginning of spring after long rains, but now it is gone. The unique ecosystem of the place has been destroyed," said a Crimean local historian on condition of anonymity.

Lake Kutuzov is located at the foot of Mount Chatyr-Dag on the border of Alushta city district and Simferopol district, which is 850 meters above sea level.

In the village of Druzhne (Jafer-Berdy), near Simferopol, the Jafar-Berdy spring, which is usually full of water at any time of the year, has dried up.

Local residents indicate that the source dried up after the "repair" of the bridge, when "excavator workers, who came to restore the passage, destroyed the catchment installed above the source in 1922, and turned the drinking water outlet itself into a mixture of dirt and stones." Currently, water is delivered by water tankers for the residents of the village, where there is no centralized water supply.

The Taigan Reservoir near Karasubazar (Bilohirsk) is left without a useful volume of water. As the journalists write, "the bottom of the dry bottom of the reservoir is overgrown with thorny weeds that avoid even livestock. The cars of fishermen catching the last fish in the reservoir have already managed to drive along the bottom."

"As expected, water from the Taigan Reservoir was completely exhausted, because the task was to provide water to the settlements of South-Eastern Crimea during the peak holiday season. Now there is little chance that the Taigan reservoir will be restored next year, since it can be filled only when the Biloghir reservoir is at least 80% full, and from there the filling of the Taigan reservoir is already self-propelled along the channel," commented a local expert on the situation.

He added that the Biloghir reservoir now also has practically no useful volume, given the forecast of drought next year, there is a high probability that the reservoir will not be able to collect the required water level by May 2025.

In general, the volume of water in the reservoirs of natural runoff in the occupied Crimea decreased by 17 million cubic meters in September. Currently, the volume of accumulated water is at the level of 2021. The other day, "experts" from Crimea under the control of the occupiers noted that the volume of reservoirs decreased by eight million cubic meters in October, and in the future, the water level in reservoirs is expected to decrease on the peninsula, which may lead to a drought.
The specified October capacity of 116 million cubic meters is lower than last year's two, but at the same time it is equal to the indicator of 2021, and exceeds the indicator of the dry year of 2020.
So, occupied Crimea is on the verge of a new water shortage. The Taigan Reservoir in the Biloghir District was left without a useful volume of water. This situation threatens the water supply of the South-Eastern part of the peninsula.

The same situation is observed in almost all reservoirs of the peninsula.

Former Representative of the President in the ARC Borys Babin explains that in the occupied Crimea, water reserves are always lower in the fall than in the spring - this process is cyclical.

"There are problems with water supply, but they depend on such factors as the wear and tear of water distribution systems, there is the issue of wells, the negligence of the occupiers in the process of maintaining reservoirs," he noted.

To overcome this problem, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures aimed at optimizing the use of water resources, finding new sources of water and developing alternative types of tourism. Perhaps, even, to connect the international community. But the occupiers are not up to that - after Bakhmut and Avdiivka, it is the turn of Myrnograd, Kramatorsk and the attack on the energy system of Ukraine.

Olena Marchenko, specially for "Ukrainian Energy"