Salinity of Black Sea near Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa significantly lower than normal after Kakhovka dam destruction

The selected seawater samples near the beaches of Ukraine's southern city of Odesa showed that the salinity is 2.2 times lower than usual.

The Odesa City Hall reported in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the samples were taken at Lanzheron Beach and the 16th Station of the Big Fountain.

"The salinity of the seawater samples taken at Lanzheron Beach is 2.2 times lower than normal; in the samples taken at the 16th Station is also 2.2 times lower than normal," the report says, citing State Environmental Inspectorate of Southwestern District (Mykolaiv and Odesa regions).

According to the data by the Odesa Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the testing of water samples taken near the port on June 14 detected the cholera-like vibrio of Heiberg group 1 again. The vibrio was first seen in the water samples on June 10.

The city hall also reported that according to the results of departmental laboratory control, the drinking water in the city meets the standards.

Earlier, Rubryka reported that the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) by Russia has resulted in a sharp decrease in salinity in the Black Sea, creating fresher water in the Odesa region, according to Ukraine's State Environmental Inspectorate.

Background

As Rubryka reported, on the night of June 6, Russian invaders blew up the Kakhovka HPP, located a few kilometers from the temporarily occupied city of Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which led to the flooding of villages and towns on the rivers of Dnipro and Inhulets. 

The plant, which has been under Russian occupation and control since the start of the invasion in February 2022, was completely destroyed and cannot be restored, according to the Ukrhydroenergo state water operator.

Later, the authorities banned Ukrainians from swimming in reservoirs and catching and consuming fish in the Kherson region because the flooding washed away the mines, explosives, oil products, soil, and other substances in the waters of the Dnipro River.

According to the estimates of the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi, farmers will not be able to fully use 1-1.5 million hectares of agricultural land due to the explosion of Kakhovka HPP. One hundred sixty thousand birds and more than 20,000 wild animals are also at risk of death due to the Russian destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

Oil refineries, gas stations, thermal power plants, and various warehouses were flooded in the Kherson region due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam — a total of 32 objects. According to preliminary information, about 150 tons of engine oil leaked into the water in the first days of the disaster.