Sikorsky Dam or Desalination? How will the problem of water supply in Crimea be solved?
Crimea's reservoirs are filled to 75% of their maximum volume. More than 180 million cubic meters of fresh water have been accumulated. Last week, the last restrictions on water supply were lifted in Alushta. And this is even before the intense snowmelt in the mountains, which will give an influx into the Crimean rivers.
But all this debit will go into the sea, since new reservoirs are just being designed, and the authorities’ main attention is paid to the prospects for using water extracted from the bottom of the Azov Sea.
The day before, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin, who oversees Crimea, said at government hour in the State Duma that the water extracted from the bottom of the Sea of Azov is low-mineralized and is conditionally potable. That is, it is suitable for use for technical purposes. If it is passed through a desalination plant, the water can be used as drinking water.
Until now, all conversations around fresh water deposits in the Sea of Azov are conducted in a public, not scientific, plane. Scientists say they have not seen a published study of the deposits found with the prospect of their use. There is a result of 10,4 milligrams per 1 liter of water, which indicates its high mineralization.
Simply put, the water is salty and needs to be desalinated. It can be used, but the cost of such water will be high and unaffordable for the consumer. It makes no economic sense to irrigate fields with desalinated water.
Collecting and rationally using the water available from precipitation is the meaning of conscious water consumption. On the southern coast of Crimea, more than 600 millimeters of precipitation falls annually, which is more than enough to provide the region with water. However, the authorities prefer to build a desalination station in Yalta, when by restoring the Sikorsky dam on the Ai-Petri plateau, several million additional cubic meters of water can be obtained.
By the way, the dam was built by order of the emperor to provide guests and residents of Yalta with fresh and clean drinking water. But during the 1927 earthquake, a crack appeared in the dam and the water left. With modern technologies, restoring the structure will not be difficult.
The North Crimean Canal as an irrigation system is clearly a thing of the past. Separate parts of the riverbed, blocked by dams, can be used as reservoirs.
But in general, with losses of 40%, the canal cannot serve as the peninsula’s water artery. Now the channel is used to transfer water from water intakes in the North of Crimea to the eastern part. But this year, the installation of an underground water pipeline made of polymer pipes, which is more economical and efficient than a concrete channel, is being completed.
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