Global Courant
ISTANBUL
The head of Ukraine’s hydropower generation company said on Thursday that the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir fell 12.7 meters below the “dead” point after the Kakhovka Dam burst.
“The level is already 12.5 meters. This is lower than the 12.7 meter ‘dead’ point from which we can no longer draw water for settlements and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Syrota, CEO of Ukrhidroenergo, told the country’s United News service.
Syrota said that if the current rate of decline is one meter per day, the water level of the reservoir could continue to drop for another seven to eight days, indicating that half of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station is already fully submerged.
“If the lower dam breaks down to the bottom, the depth of the reservoir will not exceed three meters, that is, its width will decrease from 3.5 kilometers before the explosion to 1-1. 1.2 kilometers,” he said.
He added that it will take one year to build an overpass to the flooded area and dismantle the damaged facility, while the construction of the new station will take about five years, according to preliminary estimates.
Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of blowing up the Kakhovka dam, which flooded neighboring settlements, endangered crops, threatened water supplies and prompted the evacuation of residents.
While Moscow accused Ukraine of trying to cut off the Crimea with fresh water from the Kakhovka Reservoir formed by the dam, Kiev claimed that Russia was trying to slow down an expected counterattack.
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