Floodwaters cover a rural road. - photo: NABU/ Oleg Dudkin
08. June 2023 - Following the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, 600 square kilometres in the Kherson region have been flooded, placing tens of thousands of people in acute danger. The highest water levels are expected to arrive 2-3 days later. NABU foresees devastating consequences for southern Ukraine and the entire Black Sea region.
The sudden flooding of these areas and simultaneous draining of other areas will cause damage and destruction in countless ecosystems, including along the Kakhovka Reservoir, the tributaries which flow into it and the areas downstream of the Dnipro River, the Dnipro-Bug Estuary and the coastal regions of the Black Sea. This means serious consequences for flora and fauna in these areas.
There is the risk of a mass die-off of aquatic organisms such as fish, molluscs and aquatic plants in the reservoir, which would lead to a dramatic worsening of the water quality through the decomposition of dead organisms.
NABU Director of International Department
A dry riverbed. - photo: NABU/ Oleg Dudkin
A flooded highway. - photo: NABU/ Oleg Dudkin
Urban devastation after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. - photo: NABU/ Oleg Dudkin
Amphibians, birds and land animals living in the coastal regions of the reservoir and the flooded regions, along with the vegetation, are also in direct danger. Coastal vegetation upstream of the Kakhovka Reservoir will be threatened by the sudden scarcity of water, while areas lying downstream will be flooded, including steppe and forest environments without adaptations to cope with submersion. Especially downstream of the Dnipro, there are endemic species which are on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species and are found nowhere else on the planet.
Along with these direct, serious environmental damages, there will be consequences of still unpredictable dimensions, such as the insecure water supply, which is essential to the entire agricultural system in the southern part of the Kherson region, as well as for the cooling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station. The contamination of the Dnipro River through the introduction of waste and chemicals, along with the flooding of buildings and pastures, could also become a severe danger and lead to the deaths of wild and domestic animals. Decomposing animal cadavers could, in turn, further contaminate water, soil and air, and cause the spread of infections diseases, especially in hot weather.
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