The insufficiently of water remains the biggest problem of the Nistru River despite the rainy spring. The state of the river continues to worsen and its ecosystem turns from a running or fluvial one into a lake ecosystem, stated Elena Zubkov, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.
In a news conference at IPN, the researcher said changes in the chemical composition of the water were identified. Therefore, it is important to devote attention to what is happening all over the basin, in forests and meadows, and to the influence of the hydropower sector.
Elena Zubkov noted some of the rivers, including the Nistru, flooded as a result of the recent heavy rainfall. “I was glad to see these rivers full during the past few years as the water is the life of the ecosystemic organism of the Nistru. It should be able to recover at least during a period of time as the constructions upstream continue to extend and the flow capacity of the Nistru diminishes,” she said.
Executive director of the Eco-TIRAS International Environmental Association of River Keepers Ilya Trombitsky said that even if any activity to build six hydropower plants on the Nistru River was stopped in April, they consider the authorities in Ukraine will not abandon their intentions. The Ukrainian side insists on a profound assessment of the prospects of constructing such plants. “The situation is now better in Moldova. I hope in Ukraine it will also improve. In the current conditions of democracy, I hope the decisions will be taken democratically, with the involvement of everyone in public discussions,” stated Ilya Trombitski.
Ruslan Gavrilyuk, executive director of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine, told the same news conference that the people should realize that the rivers are an immense and valuable resource that provides drinking water, fish resources, etc. The assessment of the real impact of the hydropower sector on these resources is a major task.
On June 28, the experts took part in a seminar in Chisinau that was staged as part of the project “Ecological to hydropower assessment: supporting implementation of European legislation in developing hydropower sector in Eastern Partnership states”. The project is financially supported by the European Union within the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in cooperation with the project “Creating a system of innovative transboundary monitoring of the transformations of the Black Sea river ecosystems under the impact of hydropower development and climate change” – HydroEcoNex within the framework of the Joint Operational Program Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 that is funded by the EU through the European Neighborhood Instrument.
In the event, they also discussed the facilitation of implementation of European requirements to development of hydropower sector in states of Eastern Europe Partnership.
