The Stryama River has completely disappeared in a large section near the Plovdiv village of Trilistnik. The reason for the critical drought is both the hot weather and the lack of precipitation, as well as the unregulated diversion of water. Residents of nearby settlements are already worried that this could put them in a dangerous situation right now, when the country is gripped by heat and fires.
There has been no water in the Stryama river for several days. Near the village of Trilistnik, the trough is empty. A team from the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology is unsuccessfully trying to collect important statistical data, which requires at least 6 centimeters of depth and current.
"There is simply no water. There are no depths, no speed, no river," said Tsvetana Botyanska – hydrologist at NIMH.
In the dry section of the Stream, the aquatic inhabitants die. Only small pools of water remained in the river bed. And the fish in them die. Environmentalists report the alarming situation.
"This is a section, perhaps of the order of 3 km, which has been dried up and which has been unfortunately deliberately dried up,", Valentin Danailov is emphatic – environmentalist.
The Plovdiv eco-association followed the trail of the missing water and found an illegally constructed dam diverting the already small amount. The enclosure was destroyed.
"We removed the dam, the river started, that's the problem, the river was dried up."
But the next day the dam appears again.
"This is where they blocked with nylons so they could drive – here's where the water is. And the whole river dried up."
The association submitted a series of reports to the Basin Directorate to identify the offenders.
From the Basin Directorate “Eastern White Sea Region” confirmed to BNT that they received a series of signals about the dried up river. A check was made, which did not find any violators.
"At the time we checked, there were none, but today the colleagues are there again. When we find such a violation, orders are made with a certain period to remove, for example, if there are pumps, water intake facilities or barriers. And then we control whether this prescription is fulfilled", said engineer Vasil Uzunov – director of the database "Eastern White Sea Region".
And the dry bed of the river inflames the fears of the people of Trilistnik. Although they do not have a problem with drinking water, 300 cubic meters of trees were removed from Stryama after sanitary felling and were left very close to the houses of the village.
"Emmy, how can we not be afraid? If this fire is lit here, it will not go out," Zlatyu Kostanev is emphatic.
Climate change is becoming an increasing challenge – say Trilistnik residents and environmentalists. They insist on a more responsible management of water resources and compliance with the laws, so that the Stryama River does not dry up or go out of its bed and flood populated areas, as happened in September 2022.