WATER
"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water".
Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), Poor Richard's Almanac, 1746
We live on a Watery Planet. Water covers almost three-fourths of its surface, and comprises two-thirds of our bodies. It is so vital to life, that we couldn't survive more than four days without it.
Crimea is one of the driest regions in Ukraine. The Crimean people have never been spoiled with water abundance; there was been a fresh water deficiency on the "sun peninsula" forever.
Natural water sources in Crimea amongst the lowest in all of Ukraine. As a whole, on different assessments, the average annual output of Crimean water sources can provide for the needs of only for 15-20% of the population.
In October 1963 in Crimea, a very important construction project was completed: the Northern Crimean Channel. As a result, the peninsula received access to the mainland for water sources, and has depended on them every since. About 50% of water comes to Simferopol through Northern Crimean Channel, and for some regions it is the only source.
Unfortunately new, predominating environmental problems have appeared. Anti-filtration conditions were not observed during construction (50% of Northern Crimean Channel water-pipes were built not on a concrete base, but directly on the ground), as a result Channel's waters promote to increasing of groundwater levels, flooding and swamping soil and infrastructure on significant amount of the territory.
But one of the critical problems is providing of the inhabitants with high-quality drinking water that is in agreement international standards. Unfortunately, today's situation with high-quality drinking water is far from ideal in most of Crimean's regions.
That is why in 2003 the Crimean Republic Association "Ekologiya I Mir" began work on the project "Water for Sustainable Development and Health in Crimea" (with the support of NOVIB in the Netherlands). The Project is directed at the improvement of the situation in regards to drinking water on the peninsula.
Details about the Project...
|
