Hajder on the Nistru Water Level Crisis: We Must Adapt

The general public and the industrial sector must adapt their water consumption to the new realities, said Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder. According to the official, long-term measures also include projects for reforestation and water resource conservation, reports rupor.md Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder said that the discharge near Novodnestrovsk will be reduced in accordance with a decision adopted by the Nistru Commission. This measure is necessary until the situation stabilizes, the official said. “The decision is of a general nature: we must use water much more rationally and adapt our consumption to the new realities, including for industrial purposes, particularly irrigation. We need to switch to more efficient methods. Accordingly, this is the solution until the situation stabilizes. Clearly, in the long term, we are talking about reforestation and conserving water both in reservoirs and throughout the Republic of Moldova,” Hajder stated. The minister added that water resources must be collected when they are available and used later as needed. The situation is unfolding against the backdrop of a severe water shortage, which led Moldova to issue a 30-day hydrological warning as early as July 28. On August 11, the joint Moldova-Ukraine Nistru Commission reduced the volume of water released from the Novodnestrovsk Reservoir into the Nistru River to 75 cubic meters per second due to critically low water levels in the reservoir and minimal inflow from the Carpathians. This measure has been implemented as part of strict water conservation efforts through the end of August to preserve strategic reserves of drinking water. The reduction in water releases poses serious risks to the operation of pumping stations, hydropower generation, and the agricultural sector, which relies on irrigation. Emergency measures are already being taken in Chisinau to protect the capital’s water supply, while experts do not expect the hydrological situation to stabilize until October at the earliest.