To solve the 30-year-old problem with the water regime in Pleven and Lovech, the “Cherni Osam” dam project is being unfrozen. This was announced to the media by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Engineer Violeta Koritarova, after the working meeting held by the Prime Minister between the ministers and regional governors in the Council of Ministers, the press center reports of the department.
At the meeting, the drought in the country, the holding of fair and transparent elections and the coordination between the ministers and regional governors were discussed. ” We need good coordination and communication between ministries, regional governments and local authorities, so that we can save drinking water losses. "Control is also important in these difficult days for the people of the country," commented Minister Koritarova. She informed that regional meetings between regional governors, water and sanitation operators and Basin directorates have also started. The aim is to comment on the problems and the proposed specific short-term measures on a regional basis.
According to the regional minister, the short-term measures that would now and immediately contribute to a result are the removal of damages in the most compromised points in the water supply infrastructure, which has not been repaired for 40-50 years, in order to reduce losses of water, as well as introducing control over the release of irrigation water. “It cannot be irrigated as a priority in the absence of drinking water. Everyone must have responsibility and empathy for the problem,”, noted Engineer Koritarova.
The regional minister also pointed out that many activities to improve water supply have been carried out within the caretaker government. Among the most significant is the activation of the work on concluding agreements with the municipalities for projects for the rehabilitation and repair of the water supply network in the settlements where the greatest losses have been identified. control over the local government in the implementation of the infrastructure rehabilitation projects, because our water supply companies work for the timely elimination of major accidents. Under the program for municipal objects in the budget, there are currently over 2,300 submitted proposals, of which 452 are for the rehabilitation of water and sanitation infrastructure for over BGN 1.5 billion. This is the beginning and this should be a priority in the coming years for all local authorities- to submit projects to prevent the loss of drinking water“, Eng. Koritarova also said. The term for the implementation of the projects is between 1 and 3 years, depending on the size of the settlement, the length of the networks, etc.
We remind you that in the 60s of the last century, the need to build a dam on the Cherni Osam River was considered, and the initial idea provided for the construction of a concrete dam wall with a height of 100 meters. The construction of the "Black Eight" dam started in 1986, and was stopped in 1990 due to expressed dissatisfaction of the local population, concerns about the negative impact of the project on the environment and pending expropriation procedures.