Kim on the need to reconstruct the Zhovtneve Reservoir: The water reserve for Mykolaiv is a matter of safety

The head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim said that the Zhovtneve Reservoir in Mykolaiv cannot be restored after carrying out the so-called current repair, because it is necessary to carry out major reconstruction there. Now Mykolaiv RMA is actively working to start design work and find funds for this object in the state budget.

He said this during a press conference on December 26, answering the questions of a NikVesti correspondent.

On September 19, 2023, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine took place. Among the issues discussed was the supply of drinking water to Mykolaiv and the region. Then Vitalii Kim said that the Mykolaiv RMA will contact the Government and the Office of the President regarding support for the backup water supply project in Mykolaiv. On September 22, commenting on this thesis during a briefing, the general director of «Mykolaivvodokanal» Borys Dudenko said that about 300 million hryvnias are needed to restore the Zhovtneve Reservoir in Mykolaiv. According to him, filling the reservoir will help to provide Mykolaiv residents with water in winter.

In the NikVesti article «The issue of water in Mykolaiv. Is it possible to restore the Zhovtneve Reservoir and how will it help the city?» we wrote that they want to restore the work of the reservoir, which has been inactive for 16 years, after carrying out its complete reconstruction. Tens of millions of euros are needed for this.

In the Program of Economic and Social Development of the Mykolaiv Region for 2024, which was adopted by the deputies at the session of the Regional Council on December 14, plans for the reconstruction of the Zhovtneve Reservoir during 2024-2025 have already been recorded. Roughly, it will cost 4.3 billion hryvnias.

During the press conference, Vitalii Kim noted that it is impossible to restore reservoirs for 300 million hryvnias due to the extensive damage to the dam.

Vitaly Kim, photo by NikVesta

«300 million hryvnias for «restoration» is delusional, and Dudenko (Borys Dudenko, director of KP Mykolaivvodokanal, — note) knows it. There, up to 30% goes into drainage, losses. Part of the neighborhood will be flooded there, more than from Kakhovskaya HPP, if we fill it. Everyone understood that it was impossible,» said Vitalii Kim, commenting on this issue to NikVesti.

He hopes that money for the restoration of the reservoir will be found in the state budget, since for Mykolaiv the availability of water reserves is a matter of security.

«4.5 billion is an estimated cost that will be found, I hope, in the state budget. And the question is not even about recovery. This is a safety issue. We must have a backup source of water and water reserves that many areas have. This question was raised, it was approved that it is necessary. I am currently negotiating so that we can go into design on this project. The question is whether it will be done by RMA or the Ministry of Reconstruction. We defended our position that it is necessary to do this. Tomorrow, in a year, in two, but it must be done, it is a necessity. Now we are looking for funding, realizing how problematic this issue is. I look at it this way, if it can be done in two years, it should be money. If it takes a long time, you have to wait. But we absolutely need it,» said Vitalii Kim.

The head of the Mykolayiv RMA also hopes that the people's deputies who represent the region in the parliament will join in solving this problem and help in finding funding for the reconstruction of the reservoir.

«People's deputies will help us a little later. Our work now, we work with the Ministry, we work with the Prime Minister, I personally reported to the Prime Minister on this issue. And found support,» said Vitalii Kim.

The October Reservoir in Mykolaiv has not been operational since 2006

The territory of the October Reservoir near Mykolaiv, screenshot from a video shot in 2016

The Zhovtneve reservoir in the Vitovskyi district, near the Kulbakyne microdistrict, was built in 1957 and was used as a strategic supply of fresh water for the industrial and domestic water supply of Mykolaiv.

The project of the Upper Inhulets irrigation system, which included the Zhovtneve reservoir, was developed by the Odesa branch of «Ukrdiprokomunbud» in 1954. Its volume at the time of the start of operation was 15 thousand m3, and later it grew to 32 thousand m3 of water (at maximum filling), and the depth in some places was up to 28 meters. It was filled annually, in the autumn-winter period (160 days), with Dnieper and Inhulets water.

In 2006, as a result of the slow water exchange, siltation of the reservoir occurred, and the mineralization of the water increased significantly. Along with the appearance in the water of a strong putrid smell, which turns into mercaptan, there was an increase in the color of the water from 30 to 75 degrees, the dry residue from 300 mg/dm3 to 1120 mg/dm3, the content of chlorides and sulfates doubled, and oxidation.

Map of Mykolaiv, the place where the reservoir was located is highlighted in red

The city management made a decision to drain water from the Zhovtneve Reservoir to clean the silt layer. In addition, maintenance and protection of the reservoir became unaffordable for the city budget. In this regard, the Mykolaiv city government, whose mayor was Volodymyr Chaika at the time, repeatedly appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the allocation of state subsidies for the implementation of restoration works to ensure the operation of the Zhovtneve Reservoir. However, at that time this issue was not too urgent for the state authorities.

In 2008, the project to clean and restore the reservoir was postponed. For 8 years, no one raised the question of the feasibility of carrying out works on the restoration of the reservoir, neither in the city nor at the state level.

In 2016, a video shot by a quadcopter was published on the network, showing the territory of the «Zhovtneve Sea», as the reservoir was called. In 2018, journalists of the «Inter» TV channel filmed a story where they showed that a landfill had already formed on the territory of the former reservoir.

In 2020, the problem of restoration of the Zhovtneve Reservoir was raised to a new level by Olena Kiseliova, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council. At that time, she expressed the opinion that the utility company «Mykolaivvodokanal» should seriously address the problem with water reserves and restore the operation of the Zhovtneve Reservoir.