Specialists of “Ukrhydroenergo” are already working on stopping the release of water from the Khakov reservoir through the HPP dam. This is necessary to minimize environmental impact and restore the damaged structure as soon as possible.
As of June 14, the water level of Kakovsky Reservoir is 7-8 m, which is a very important mark because a drop below will make it difficult to restore the water intake. This was announced by Ihor Sirota, General Director of Ugrihydronergo, during the European Business Association’s online discussion “Explosion of Khakovskaya HPP: Consequences for Business”.
Reservoir Water Level Recovery: When It Happens and What It Requires
“For us, every 10 cm of water loss is important,” says Ihor Sirota. “Because it can only be collected after a flood that takes months. So, if we stay at the 6-7 m mark, we can expect to fill up to 12.7 after the flood – the required mark for water intake for all cities. If we fall to 3 meters, everything depends on what the flood will be. We may not reach this 12.7 mark in the first year. So, it will take 1.5-2 years to raise the reservoir to this level.”
According to him, work is currently underway to stop the rapid outflow of water from the Khakov Reservoir.
“First, we need to build a bridge to stop the Khakov Reservoir from functioning, we are making the plan and it will be ready by July 10… And once the encroachment is cleared, construction of this bridge can begin immediately“, says Ihor Sirota.
According to him, billions of hryvnias are needed to implement the project. Additionally, it takes a year to build a bridge and remove the station, and another 5 years to build a new hydroelectric station.
Acute Effects: What affects the ecological status of the region
As the general director of “Ukrhydroenergo” said, 450 tons of oil spilled into the river from transformers and turbines of HPP’s explosion station. So now it is important not to cause an even bigger environmental disaster for this region.
6-7 meters of water in the reservoir covers some areas of silt. It is less ecologically destructive to the environment. Because the banks go up to a kilometer to the river bank. Fish and animals die there. These are serious consequences for ecology,” he stressed.
We will remind you that on June 6, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation blew up the Khakovka hydroelectric station in the Kherson region. Already on June 10, representatives of the United Nations visited the Ukrainian-controlled settlements of the Kherson region, which were affected by floods after the Russian occupiers blew up the Khakovka hydroelectric plant.
As reported attention, UN humanitarian secretary and emergency coordinator Martin Griffiths said the actions of the Russian aggressors would affect global food security. This will lead to higher food prices and water shortages for hundreds of thousands of people.
