According to the U.S. National Public Radio (NPR), citing satellite data, Russia is draining a large reservoir in Ukraine's Kakhovka, threatening drinking water supplies, agricultural production, and the safety of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.
Details. According to NPR, water has been discharged from the Russian-controlled Kakhovka reservoir in southern Ukraine since November 2022. As a result, according to satellite data, the water level in the reservoir has dropped to its lowest level in three decades. The images provided by commercial companies Planet and Maxar show how the shoreline along the reservoir is changing as a result of the rapid drop in water levels.
The Kakhovka Reservoir is a huge man-made lake, the last in a network of reservoirs along the Dnipro River. Since the 1950s, it has been providing drinking and irrigation water to the southern regions of Ukraine – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
A 400-kilometer canal leading from the reservoir also supplies Russian-occupied Crimea.
Late last week, the IAEA said it was aware of the potential risk associated with the reservoir's falling water level.
"While the decline in water levels does not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, it could be a cause for concern if allowed to continue," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.
Radar altimetry data show that the current level of the reservoir is 14 meters, which is about 2 meters below its normal level. Since December, the water level in the reservoir has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years of satellite observations.
A statement from the Ukrainian authorities on February 7 said that if the level drops below 13.2 meters, the cooling system of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be at risk.
The Zaporizhzhia EMA also warns that several cities, including Enerhodar, Melitopol, and Berdiansk, may face water shortages, noting that all three cities are under Russian occupation, so little is known about the water supply situation.
Helms believes that the deliberate water dumping is an attempt by Russia to damage Ukraine's economy, which is heavily dependent on agricultural exports.
Other experts point out that most of the agricultural areas affected by the water discharge are in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, and find it strange that Russia is acting on the principle of "scorched earth" in territories it claims as its own.
The Zaporizhzhia UWA suggests that the purpose of the water discharge from the reservoir may be, among other things, to flood the area south of the dam to prevent Ukrainian forces from forcing the Dnipro.