Kakhovka Reservoir drains by 1 metre overnight, average flood level in Kherson Oblast is 5.6 metres
The water level of the Kakhovka Reservoir near Nikopol is 13.05m as of 08:00 on 8 June. The reservoir has drained by almost one metre over the past day, and the water level continues to fall.
Source: Ukrhydroenergo, the national hydro power plant regulator; Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Oleksandr Sienkevych, Mayor of Mykolaiv, on Telegram
Quote from Ukrhydroenergo: "The water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir has decreased by almost a metre over the past day. Currently, the spillway dam and the earthen insert between the plant building and the lock are still in the process of being destroyed."
Details: It was reported that currently, Ukrhydroenergo together with Ukrenergo are developing possible scenarios to reduce the negative aftermath of the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP).
In particular, they are adjusting the operating mode of hydroelectric power plants and accumulating water above the Kakhovka HPP in other reservoirs of the Dnipro dam cascade in order to reduce flooding in the country's south.
Additionally, Ukrhydroenergo and the design institute Ukrhydroproject are working on a project to build a cofferdam (damming) at the Kakhovka Reservoir to restore the water level to what it was before the HPP was blown up.
Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, reported that the average level of flooding as of the morning of 8 June was 5.61 metres.
600 square kilometres of Kherson Oblast are under water, of which 32% is on the right bank and 68% is on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Evacuations are underway.
Prokudin added that people in Kherson Oblast are tired, but now that they are provided with everything they need, many residents do not want to leave the oblast.
Oleksandr Sienkevych, Mayor of Mykolaiv, reported that the water level in Mykolaiv's water area had risen by 97 cm as of 08:00.
Currently, district administrations are surveying the territory of the city. They are reinforcing the coastline near residential buildings in some of the lowest places.
The mayor added that employees of the Housing and Utilities department are inspecting the basements of high-rise buildings.
"At the moment, they are working on Lazurna Street. The basements are dry, but if something happens, we will pump out the water with motorised pumps. I ask all Mykolaiv residents to be careful and avoid flooded places! Take care!", Sienkevych concluded.
Read also: "We are not afraid, we have sailed home." Ukrainska Pravda on high water and evacuation in Kherson
Background:
- On the morning of 6 June, Ukraine’s Operational Command Pivden (South) reported that Russian occupation forces had blown up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), completely destroying the dam and the power plant's turbine hall. The hydroelectric power plant is beyond repair. The draining of the Kakhovka Reservoir threatens the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
- Destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant caused an environmental catastrophe. The water from the reservoir has begun to flood towns and villages, and evacuations of local residents from dangerous areas have begun. The blowing up of the dam at the Kakhovka HPP has caused problems with the water supply in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Marhanets and Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised that the recent disaster at the Kakhovka HPP created by the Russians would not stop Ukraine from liberating its own territory, and neither has it increased the chances of the occupiers to stay on this land.
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he is shocked by the reaction of the UN and the Red Cross to the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) by the Russian occupiers. He added that international organisations, such as the Red Cross, should immediately join in evacuating people from flooded cities and villages, in particular in the temporarily occupied territory, where Ukrainian military and emergency workers currently do not have any access.
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