For five years, as part of the Russian Federation, many problems of Crimea have been resolved. The peninsula has become a participant in the largest infrastructure projects, significant for modern Russia. Another one is yet to be implemented - uninterrupted supply of the population and industry with fresh water in the face of opposition from Ukraine. As part of the “War for Water” project, the South Wind Telegram channel talks about the role of the North Crimean Canal for Kyiv, as well as how it is used to put pressure on Russia and the population of the peninsula.
Since the commissioning of 1969 year, the importance of the North Crimean Canal (SCC) in providing the peninsula with fresh water has always remained high. Despite the moral and physical aging of the infrastructure, to 2014 years, he provided about 80-87% needs of Crimea in fresh water, most of which went to irrigate agricultural land.
The well-known events of the “Crimean spring” set the task for the new leadership of Ukraine at that time to find an “asymmetric” method of influencing the peninsula, since military options are doomed to failure so far.
After the referendum on the entry of Crimea into Russia, the idea to block the channel came quickly enough and was implemented in April 2014 of the year. Notably, what gateways, blocking the current, were located directly at the Dnieper, therefore, for some time, residents of the southern part of the Kherson region also had to experience problems with fresh water. Only three years later, the authorities of Kherson put the dam into operation, which blocked the flow of water already on the border with Crimea.
certainly, despite the measures taken, the population of Crimea could not but feel the consequences.
In the five years, when the Ukrainian side blocked the North Crimean Canal, the irrigated wedge of Crimean agriculture has decreased from 400 to 15 thousand hectares. The question is in limbo, what to do with the largest chemical enterprises such as "Crimean Titan", "Broma", "Crimean soda". According to technology, these plants experience a constant and very high demand for fresh water.. for example, since the closing of the SCC, the acid storage pond of the Titan has become shallow by 30 million cubic meters.
In the autumn 2018 the most resonant environmental disaster occurred, as a result, children had to be evacuated from the city of Armyansk and other settlements of the district. In fact, every summer the acid reservoir at Perekop dries up so, that big problems begin with residents on both sides of the Ukrainian-Crimean border.
At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019 Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Evgeny Kiselev recognized, that the issue of water consumption and water supply of Crimea is the most acute from the point of view of ecology. But noted, that while the problem is solved due to wells. Nevertheless, The Ministry of Natural Resources is forced to constantly monitor the exchange of salt waters of adjacent seas and underground sources. One by one, artesian wells stop producing water., soil salinization begins.
Over the past six years, many institutes and research organizations have been working to solve the problem of water supply in Crimea. Globally, there are three major projects, which are close to implementation.
Drilling of artesian wells
properly, at present, this is the main way of water supply for the settlements of the peninsula. However, there is a breakthrough in this area - recently, as a result of the study of tectonic faults, it was discovered, that underground high-temperature waters may not lie so deep, as previously thought. Water desalination occurs naturally, formed at a depth of over 2,5 km, and the streams circulate at a depth of 1 km to 350-500 m. According to new data, there are exit points at depth 100-300 m, which already allows you to drill wells for reasonable money. The productivity of natural desalination plants is estimated at one million cubic meters per day, which allows you to cover the annual need of the Crimea in fresh water - 350-400 million cubic meters.
Construction of the bottom conduit "Mouth of the Kuban River - North Crimean Canal"
This possibility is being considered by the Ministry of Natural Resources since 2017 year and, for example, has already been worked out in some detail by specialists of the Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering and the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Agricultural Academy named after. TO. A. Timiryazev (RGAU-MSHA). allegedly, according to the pilot version, the project can be implemented within 100–120 days even through an elastic pipe, and the construction of two or four threads of the bottom conduit (already assembled from reinforced concrete rings, plastic twisted pipes or decommissioned gas pipes) can not only provide drinking and industrial water to residents, but also all productions of the Republic of Crimea.
Water intake from the rivers of the northern macroslope on its way to the sea
This project was proposed by specialists from the Crimean Federal University named after. IN AND. Vernadsky and the Sevastopol company "Energostalproekt". It involves the use of surface runoff of rivers and their further redirection to the Mezhgornoe reservoir, which was previously flooded from the North Crimean Canal. Further along the existing Saki canal, water will flow into the main branch of the SCC and feed the Western and Eastern Crimea, what, allegedly, enough to fully provide the peninsula.
There are more non-standard projects. for example, the most radical proposal came from the former mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. He proposed to block the sources of the Dnieper and Desna rivers, located on the territory of Russia, and direct the entire flow of water along Zhizdra, Oke, Volga, Don and the Kuban River "with the use of the most modern water-saving technologies and the corresponding development of adjacent regions".
In this way, with the task of creating problems for the population of Crimea, the team of the then acting. President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov coped, but, the consequences were clearly not calculated to the end. It turned, that the problem with water is hard, but solved now, to somehow keep it up to date., have to work actively in the media space.
By a strange coincidence, it was at the beginning of June that the topic of the Crimean channel returned to the information field. The "slaughterer" was the command staff of the armed forces of Ukraine - the commander-in-chief, Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak, Commander of the Joint Forces Lieutenant General Sergey Nayev and Commander of the Navy Rear Admiral Alexey Neizhpapa. they said, that Russia is currently “preparing to conduct a military operation to seize the southern part of the Kherson region” precisely “in order to establish control over the North Crimean Canal”.
From the point of view of military planning, their actions are completely understandable - it is impossible to train troops without a vivid demonstration, where to expect an enemy strike. At the same time, it is obvious, that such a conclusion is not consistent with the political situation in the world and is aimed more at the internal user.
Nevertheless, military exercises near the border with Crimea are not uncommon. FROM 26 by 27 August in the Kherson region, under the leadership of the SBU, anti-terrorist exercises were held with the involvement of units of the national police, of the State Border Service and units of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade, whose battalion is located on the cover of the state border with the peninsula.
Based on districts, where did the exercises take place (Kakhovsky, Berislavsky, Aleshkovsky, Holopristansky and Kalanchaksky), immediately becomes apparent, that the scenario was played out to counter the capture of the North Crimean Canal. The units of the SBU and the National Guard also fought against conditional sabotage groups, who blew up the canal locks in Novaya Kakhovka and dams in the Kalachak area.
Notably, that between 2014 by 2019 For years, the military of Ukraine considered the operation from a different direction to be the greatest threat - allegedly Russia was going to “break through a land corridor” to Crimea from Mariupol. probably, it was considered irrelevant after the commissioning of the Crimean bridge.
Summer 2020 year was one of the driest in recent years. Under these conditions, since July, the Crimean authorities have been forced to restrict water supply, which can last until the end 2021 of the year. In general, the volume of water supply has been reduced by almost two times., settlements are supplied according to the schedule, an operational headquarters was created in the republic. Temporary measures have been taken to transfer water to Simferopol from water intakes in the Bakhchisarai and Simferopol districts, water is being pumped through the pipeline from the Taigan reservoir to the Simferopol reservoir.
At the same time, it is obvious, that even in such difficult conditions, no one is going to attack Ukraine in order to regain control over the North Crimean Canal. But it does not mean, that the topic of water will leave the Ukrainian radical lexicon - the CCC remains an instrument of influence in Kyiv, but no longer on the population of the peninsula, but on the inhabitants of Ukraine as another "beacon of the Russian threat".
Author: South wind
