Summary of the Analysis of Water Issues in the Siverskyi Donets river and Programme of Measures to Address Them
Due to its geographical location and climatic features, the Don basin is low on water. The most problematic, low-water area is the Siverskyi Donets river in the Donetsk region, where the shortage of water resources is observed throughout the year7. The Siverskyi Donets accounts for 85% of water intake from surface sources and 80% of the total intake in the region. Irreversible water use from surface water bodies amounts to 600 mln m3 per year, also due to inter-basin water transfer to the Pryazovia rivers in the Donetsk region. The discharge of return (waste) water into the Don basin reaches about 800 m3 annually. Water supply to the population and industry in the Don basin is ensured by a successfully operating complex and high-capacity water management complex with numerous canals, main water lines and reservoirs. An important factors which also determines the basin’s specific features is the uneven distribution of the water balance of the Siverskyi Donets river. For example, the main flow regulators – Pechenihy and Oskil Reservoirs – are located in the Kharkiv region, and the largest riverbed intakes are in the Donetsk region (water intake in the Siverskyi Donets-Donbass Canal, water intake of the Slavic Thermal Power Plant) and the Luhansk region (drinking water intake of the Popasna District Water Services [Vodokanal]). 7
SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR ANALYZING THE SITUATION IN THE DON BASIN The greatest difficulty in analyzing water and environmental issues is lack or absence of data, especially from non-government-controlled areas. Therefore, for the analysis of water pollution, being the most significant issue, various data sets were used:
statistical reporting data on water use based on the “2TP Vodohosp” template (annual) (https://e-services.davr.gov.ua/ parlor/p-report-genn-advanced);
technological characteristics and operational data on the operation of sewage treatment facilities (https://eservices.davr.gov.ua/parlor/p-report-gennadvanced);
monitoring data on the status of surface water bodies obtained in the framework of the State Monitoring Programme (https://data.gov.ua/dataset/surface-watermonitoring);
data of the state ecological control within administrative regions (https://inspections.gov.ua/);
regional data on sanitary-epidemiological and social-hygienic monitoring (https://www.minregion.gov.ua/);
Data of the “Water Balance for the Siverskyi Donets River Sub-Basin”, approved by the State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine dated June 13, 2019. https://www.davr.gov.ua/vodogospodarski-balansi-osnovnih-rajoniv-richkovih-basejniv
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