Armed conflict as an environmental risk factor at water supply facilities in еastern Ukraine (case study of “Voda Donbassa” utility company’s Siverskyi Donets – Donbas canal)

Abstract

The “Voda Donbassa” utility company’s Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal is considered critical infrastructure and at increased risk, as existing environmental threats have been identified (significant technical malfunctions in connection with military operations – breach of the waterproof canal-bed; damage to the pipeline’s water-tightness; flooding along the path due to significant water loss and, as a consequence, development of dangerous geological processes – swamps, landslides, surface subsidence, rising groundwater levels; a possible complication of the humanitarian and sanitary-epidemiological condition in the region is the presence of the prerequisites for man-made accidents to occur at environmentally-hazardous chemical, metallurgical, and energy enterprises that use large volumes of water in their technological process) and recommendations given for minimizing the risks of the beginnings of man-made environmental disasters (development of plans for the localization and elimination of the consequences of accidents, where they are lacking; measures to prevent breaching the integrity and waterproofing of the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal – technical inspection, planned and preventative maintenance work, repair work; monitoring the canal’s hydrological and hydrogeological systems, hydraulic structure technical condition, ensuring systematic monitoring and renovation of the water supply system; implementation of measures for drainage of land in areas of flooding in order to reduce the negative impact). In connection with the passage of the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal route through the line of armed conflict, it is necessary to create “secure zones” with a radius of 5 km where the canal intersects the contact line in order to prevent their destruction due to possible shelling.