When the Kakhovka dam was destroyed in early June, a vast expanse of water disappeared. The water’s dramatic recession has had far-reaching effects on the population of surrounding towns, notably Nikopol. But as residents adapt to the new landscape, Ukrainian authorities and environmental experts are grappling with the best strategy to restore the sea of sand to its former glory.
On one side, Nikopol, a town controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces. On the other, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which the Russian forces control, along with a swath of territory south of the Dnipro River. Between them, an immense sand desert.
On TikTok, videos showing the vast sandy landscape are shared widely, mentioning the name of the town Nikopol (such as here, here or here), ever since the Kakhovka dam was destroyed.
On June 6, a series of explosions partially demolished the hydroelectric facility. Both the Ukrainians and Russians have accused the other of the attack, but several indications point to the Russian armed forces – who control the dam – being responsible.
The dam held 18 cubic kilometres of water upstream, making it the largest reservoir by volume in Europe. A number of towns sit on its former banks, including Nikopol. Downstream, the reservoir’s waters spilt over the banks of the Dnipro River, flooding major towns such as Kherson.
But upstream, the water receded dramatically. At least 75% of the reservoir’s floor was exposed to the air and began drying out, turning into a vast desert of sand and silt covering more than 1600 square kilometres. Residents of Nikopol are shocked, like this woman filming fish washed up three days after the disaster. “This is how the sea dies,” she writes.
'We find fresh cluster ammunition as well as shells from the Second World War'
"We called it the sea," remembers Alexandr Korobeinikov, a former firefighter from Nikopol who documents his daily life on TikTok. His job now is to deactivate explosive devices, going into the formerly flooded areas, as part of his dangerous job.
All my childhood, from the age of 8, I spent summers on the banks of the Kakhovska reservoir. In some places, it was so big that you couldn't see across. People swam, dived, sunbathed, caught fish and crayfish. We met and escorted ships entering the port.
For Arthur Afonin, a journalist with local media "Nikopol City", the disappearance of this body of water initially seemed unreal. In the days following the disaster, he documented the reservoir's dramatic retreat. "That night, when the news came, I already went to bed," he recounts. "I didn't believe it. But after a few hours, the phone calls started to wake me up. I was one of the first to know about the explosion."
Korobeinikov distinctly remembers the day he learned that the Kakhovka dam had been attacked.
I watched that moment on TikTok and YouTube, since I was at the front working at deactivating explosive devices. Many people were panicking. At first, many people thought we would be drowned like in Kherson.
When he returned to Nikopol, Korobeinikov discovered this new landscape, which he explored and filmed during demining missions.
We find fresh cluster ammunition as well as shells from the Second World War, which were washed up from the earth when the water went away. Plus, the riverbanks were mined [by Russian forces who occupied the area], so going there without knowing where the mines are is dangerous. But there are people with metal detectors who still come here and try to look for Cossack treasures.
Authorities have banned civilians from accessing the formerly flooded zones, but some archaeologists and amateur treasure hunters have flocked to the area. This man, for example, shows off his finds from June 11, a few days after the dam breach. His video has more than a million views on TikTok.
Growing potatoes in the old riverbed
Others have gone even further to adapt to the new landscape. One video shows a field of potatoes growing in the sandy riverbed of the Kakhovka reservoir, said to be filmed near Nikopol. The FRANCE 24 Observers team was unable to confirm who filmed the video and where, but residents confirmed its authenticity.
This video, which was widely circulated around July 22 (here, here and here), is being shared as an example of Ukrainian resilience in the face of the Russian invasion. However, the Ukrainian ministry of agrarian policy and food has already proposed a bill to protect the reservoir bed by preventing the use of the land except in cases meant for its restoration and protection.
"They are isolated cases, I have heard about [people growing crops in the reservoir] three times," Korobeinikov said. "It's not allowed but the military turns a blind eye because they know that people need to survive."
In addition to daily shelling, Nikopol residents deal with a chronic lack of water since the dam's destruction. Korobeinikov explained:
I realised that there might be problems with water, so I told everyone I knew to take water in their bathtubs to have at least some supply for the first time. However, the city authorities assured us that they were taking water from the old Dnipro riverbed, and we were not in danger. But it was not possible to install pumps near the water because of the constant shelling, we were specifically prevented from providing water for the city.
There were many elderly people left in the city who could not get water for themselves. Other residents helped by delivering water in their vehicles, and even children organized a kind of assistance to deliver water to the elderly and disabled. Unfortunately, that water was not potable, it could be used for washing, cleaning, and flushing toilets. Drinking water had to be bought or delivered humanitarian aid, and two five-liter bottles of water were distributed about once a week.
Some tap water service has been restored, but Korobeinikov still has to go collect drinking water twice a day.
Health risks for residents
The vast stretch of sand where the reservoir once stood poses further risks to locals, according to Maksym Soroka, a Ukrainian air quality specialist who took part in a scientific expedition to the former reservoir in late June.
The main risks for public health are: the occurence of a large area of dust formation in the air of the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Nikopol, Marganets and other small towns around the Kakhovska Reservoir, air pollution, and the "new territory" being inhabited by invasive plant species – primarily ambrosia which will increase the concentration of allergic dust in the air. People who have chronic diseases and acute allergic reactions will suffer from this.
The Ukrainian ministry of environmental protection and natural resources told the FRANCE 24 Observers team that it aims to restore the steppe and grassland ecosystems that existed in the area before the reservoir was established.
"After the reservoir is restored, these ecosystems will be flooded and aquatic and wetland ecosystems will be restored," the ministry said. "Recovery will be 10 years or more after the reservoir is restored."
The ministry's approach is already being put into practice further south of the Kakhovka reservoir, in the Kamianska Sich National Park, where, according to the authorities, 90 hectares have already been seeded with annual plants typical of the region.
"The plants are germinating quickly," the ministry explained. "Unfortunately, such work cannot be carried out in a timely manner, as a large area of the south is mined."
'In the long term, we need to refill the reservoir. Anything else doesn't solve the problem'
But Viktor Vyshnevskyi, a professor of geographical science specialising in hydrology, doesn't see the point of this strategy of restoring ecosystems only to submerge them as soon as possible.
Even in the 1950s, when the reservoir was created, the trees were cut. To flood the plants [to restore the reservoir] means to make the water quality much worse.
Maksym Soroka agrees:
It is not the presence of plants that protects against dust, but the perennial dense vegetation cover. Everyone should understand that year-old plants will not help to protect against dust storms in winter. Invasive intervention in the ecosystem has unpredictable consequences. Nature will do its job exactly in the places which are suitable for this.
Already, locals are documenting the natural regrowth of vegetation on land that was previously submerged by the reservoir.
Although many environmental specialists disagree with authorities on how the reservoir should be restored, they tend to agree on one point: "In the long term, we need to refill the reservoir," Maksim Soroka explains. "Anything else doesn't solve the problem."
Viktor Vyshnevskyi agrees:
As soon as it's possible, we need to restore the reservoir to a depth of at least 12 metres above sea-level. That's enough to be able to use the water from the reservoir.
However, this solution, which is dependent on a military victory, is not yet within reach. The Kakhovka dam is at present controlled by the Russian armed forces.
