Abroad Today, 07:424 Southern Ukraine may become a desert next year due to the destruction of the Kahovka HPP

RockedBuzz
By RockedBuzz 3 Min Read

The destruction of the Kahovka HPP will lead to the fact that the countryside in southern Ukraine may turn into a desert as early as next year, predicts the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

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Photo: AFP/SCANPIX

The destruction of the Kahovka HPP will lead to the fact that the countryside in southern Ukraine may turn into a desert as early as next year, predicts the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

The ministry estimates that 10,000 hectares of agricultural lands on the Ukrainian-controlled right bank of the Dnieper, as well as several times larger areas on the occupied left bank of the Dnieper, will be flooded in the Kherson region after Russia blew up the Kahovka HPP dam.

The man-made disaster will stop water supply to 31 rural irrigation systems in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. In 2021, these systems provided irrigation for 584 thousand hectares, where about four million tons of cereals and oilseeds worth about 1.5 billion US dollars were harvested, but in 2023, only 13 irrigation systems are operating on the right bank of the Dnieper.

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Photo: AFP/SCANPIX

The Russian terrorist attack on the Kahovka HPP effectively left 94% of the irrigation system in the Kherson region, 74% in the Zaporizhia region, and 30% in the Dnipropetrovsk region without a water source. The countryside in southern Ukraine may turn into a desert as early as next year. Without the Kahovka reservoir, not only farmers and water users will suffer, but also sources of drinking water supply in settlements, noted the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

The destruction of the Kakhovka HPP will also have negative consequences for fisheries. The spawning period has just ended and the spawns that have fallen into the shallows due to the drop in water level will dry out. The fauna of the reservoir will also perish, which the current of water has carried to the floodplains that have formed below the exploded dam. As the floodwaters recede, these bioresources will reach the land, the ministry emphasized.

Another problem will be the entry of freshwater fish and other bioresources into the salty water of the Black Sea and their destruction. The fauna of the Black Sea may also perish due to the widespread influx of fresh water.

The losses caused by the destruction of the Kahovka HPP to the fishery only due to the death of adult specimens can reach 95 thousand tons, or approximately four billion hryvnias (101.3 million euros). Losses due to the destruction of all bioresources can reach 10.5 billion hryvnias (266 million euros).

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