Ukraine dam disaster creates ongoing water shortages
The June 6 destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam not only caused deadly flooding and lowered the level of water used to cool the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant's reactors; it created an ongoing water crisis in a region where people depend on farming and gardens.
Transcript
00:00 Late summer in Pokrovske, and everything revolves around water.
00:04 Mom asked us to please get some water.
00:07 We have transport.
00:09 It's difficult for her to walk, to carry.
00:11 Katas, this is an ecological disaster.
00:18 The water supply in this town is dry.
00:22 What's provided in these barrels is wet,
00:24 but it's not safe to drink.
00:26 The town provides some drinking water,
00:29 but it's simply not enough for everyone.
00:32 People like Irina Boroshnova have to organize that themselves.
00:35 She takes us to her house.
00:38 Irina is a mathematics and physics teacher,
00:40 but like most villagers here, her family lives off the land.
00:43 The lack of water, even for irrigation,
00:47 has become an existential threat.
00:49 That is early cabbage.
00:51 You see, this is later cabbage, you can tell from the leaves.
00:54 We've got broccoli there.
00:57 They used to water their crops from the Kakhovka Reservoir,
01:00 but since the dam was destroyed, that's no longer an option.
01:03 They spent money on drilling equipment to dig a well.
01:07 They could only afford to go 36 meters deep.
01:10 They can use the water for the fields
01:13 and around the house,
01:15 but it's not good to drink.
01:16 When I was brushing my teeth in the morning,
01:20 the water was like baking soda.
01:23 It feels like I'm rinsing my mouth with baking powder solution.
01:26 It's like baking soda solution.
01:29 Villagers like Irina here in Pokrovske
01:31 feel they're being left behind,
01:33 while in nearby Nikopol,
01:35 city dwellers may have water,
01:37 but have different worries.
01:39 From here on, what used to be the bank of the reservoir,
01:43 you can see Russian-held territory.
01:45 Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station is just 10 kilometers away.
01:48 They occupied that city on April 3, 2022.
01:55 They entered with their troops,
01:57 and it became clear that they would terrorize us from over there.
02:01 He tells us the city can use what water is left in the reservoir,
02:09 but the Russians are trying to stop them.
02:11 Every so often, the Russians hit their target.
02:14 The shelling continues today,
02:20 and it's worse wherever there's a pumping station.
02:26 They shell more in order to deprive us of water.
02:29 Leaving the people of Nikopol without water
02:34 until service is restored.
02:36 The regional administration is working on a permanent solution.
02:40 They're laying a pipe to connect Nikopol
02:43 to the Zaporizhia city water system.
02:45 They hope to be done before winter.
02:47 There's no such plan for villagers back in Pokrovske.
02:53 Irina and her husband Volodymyr planted less than normal this season,
02:57 knowing water would be scarce.
02:59 But she plans to plant more next season,
03:03 hopeful the new well will help keep everything going,
03:05 at least for a while.
03:07 Not long ago, the water that filled this basin
03:10 helped feed this village,
03:12 and people would swim and sunbathe on the rocks.
03:15 Irina tells us villagers say that because there is no water,
03:19 wolves are crossing over from the other side.
03:22 Maybe it would be good for the ecosystem,
03:24 for nature, for animals, but it would be bad for us,
03:27 for the residents of the village itself.
03:29 No one knows whether the dam will be rebuilt
03:34 or whether nature will be left to take over the basin.
03:37 She says the villagers say if the reservoir is not filled again,
03:42 they'll probably all have to leave.
03:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]