The North Crimean Canal will be serviced as planned
Crimea will adhere to the current state program for the development of the water sector, which provides for ongoing repairs and support for the operation of the North Crimean Canal.
Under this program, the canal was maintained in working order throughout all previous years, despite the lack of Dnieper water, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
From the Nizhnegorsky district to the Station Reservoir of Kerch, the canal was filled with water from underground sources in the north of Crimea. Since February, after the liquidation of the dam, installed on the initiative of the Ukrainian authorities, Dnieper water has flowed into the canal. All units and pumping stations were ready to supply water throughout Crimea and fulfill requests for pumping water for irrigation.
“We have fulfilled all requests for water consumption, filled our reservoirs,” Roman Zakharov, adviser to the head of the State Committee for Water Resources, assured on the Millet TV channel. – The irrigation season has already ended, we are doing repair and restoration work, preparing for the next year in 2023. Equipment always requires attention after a certain period of operation. Therefore, we paid attention to control measuring instruments and automation equipment in order to more accurately record water, electricity, and consumer records.”
This year, 210 million cubic meters of water were supplied through the canal to fields and bulk reservoirs. Next year, according to plans, only 170 million cubic meters will be needed to fill rice paddies. Despite previous assurances from the leaders of Crimea that rice is a “water stranglehold for Crimea,” it is impossible to do without this moisture-loving crop in the north of Crimea: rice paddies act as a hydraulic barrier against salty sea water, which rises through karst cavities to the surface and turns fertile lands into salt marshes. During the water blockade, wheat was grown in rice paddies, but its quality was only suitable for livestock feed.
“There is reconstruction, that is, the gradual restoration of areas, and this decision requires additional actions. The user contacts the organization, carries out the design, undergoes an examination, and we prepare technical conditions for connection to pumping stations and existing hydraulic structures,” Zakharov explained. – This process will be carried out efficiently, reliably, all time intervals will be respected. The winter period is truly special for the channel’s work. And the first action is to lower the horizons, free it from the water in order to look at the canal, at the sides of the canal, if there are flaws somewhere - repair and restore it to the design geometric characteristics. We understand that there are some other manifestations. This can all be fixed."
Next year, the State Committee for Water Resources predicts the most favorable conditions for water supply to fields for Crimean agricultural producers. But the more water users there are, the lower the price for water supply from the North Crimean Canal will be. And the more opportunities there will be for upgrading canal systems.
“The cost of work on the construction of the North Crimean Canal in Soviet rubles was 1,6 billion by 1991,” Zakharov noted. “The net profit from the sale of products has already covered these costs twice... Reconstruction is an expensive undertaking, and in itself it will not be an entirely correct action if we are not all sure that it will be beneficial.”
The North Crimean Canal will be serviced as planned.