Crimea.Realities
There is virtually no underground freshwater left for its sufficient use by households, the expert says.
Over the period since the beginning of Russian occupation and from the moment Ukraine halted waters supplies to the illegally-annexed peninsula from the Dnipro River alng the North Crimea canal, occupation authorities have already exhausted freshwater resources in the area.
That's according to a Crimean economist, now an IDP, who is an expert at the "Maidan of Foreign Affairs" Charity Foundation, Yuriy Smelyansky, Obozrevatel reports.
"To achieve point-to-point short-term solutions, which is generally accepted in Russia (no one particularly cares about the prospects), fresh water was pumped out of the existing reservoirs and transferred to the north of Crimea to solve the difficulties that have arisen. Carnivorous exploitation of underground freshwater reserves has begun. But today, we can say that the resources have been exhausted," said Smelyansky.
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The expert also notes that the occupiers are forced to acknowledge the fact that in Crimea's north, underground freshwater reserves become more mineralized.
"That is, there is practically no more freshwater left underground to be used at least for domestic needs… Freshwater horizons are replaced by salt water, so there is not enough water for domestic needs, not mentioning agri businesses," writes Smelyansky.
At the same time, the expert stresses that there is no general solution to the problem without the Dnipro water.
Earlier, Deputy Minister for the occupied territories Yuriy Hrymchak said that Crimea, which had lived at the expense of water coming from mainland Ukraine, was drying out gradually.