Assessment of water needs in the lower Dnipro sub-basin following the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir

Abstract

The paper describes the purposes of the Kakhovka reservoir, which was the final in a series of large reservoirs created out of the Dnipro River in Ukraine. Importantly the paper presents the water consumption balances of the reservoir prior to its destruction on June 6, 2023. This consumption is divided up by economic sector – energy, agriculture, fishing, industry, transport, and household use and also with details on inter- and intra-annual water demand trends and variations (prior to destruction). The water needed to maintain important ecosystems in the reservoir and south of the now destroyed dam is also accounted for. This overview of water consumption is then used as input in an analysis of how prospective water-uses of the Dnipro River, including water needed to maintain important ecosystems, can be met given the situation now where the Dnipro River still exists, but the reservoir and dam, which were important for regulating and maintaining flow-rates and water-levels at different times of the year, do not exist at the moment.