The general solution to the problem of water shortage in different cities of the country is to increase the efficiency of water transmission systems.
This is what the Acting Minister of Environment and Water Petar Dimitrov told bTV.
Minister Dimitrov gave the example of VK-Vratsa, where, with good management and the construction of new infrastructure, financed under OP "Environment", losses are minimal. Based on the data received from the water supply operators, the water consumption of the Vratsa district has fallen from 24 million cubic meters. meters per 9 million cubic meters meters on an annual basis with the repair of the facilities.
In his words, for Pleven, in the short term, measures are applicable that are quick and can lead to a good result. This is, for example, the experience of "Sofia Voda" with the water transmission network in Sofia. Here the situation was more or less the same, the losses reached 80 percent, but with a visionary management and going through an analysis of this water network to see where the most water was lost and where it needed to be repaired in small sections and that quickly, those water losses fell below 50 percent, he explained.
I cannot guarantee that there will be water on Christmas and New Year. My family lives there. We will spend the Christmas and New Year holidays in Pleven. I, too, experience difficulties when I am at home, the minister said. He explained that the competent authority to declare a water regime and to cancel it is only the mayor of the municipality. Last week, I was invited by the mayor of the municipality to participate in the municipal administration's operation in order to support their actions with the water crisis, informed Dimitrov and pointed out that his goal was to support the efforts of the mayor, which are related to reducing losses, because two thirds of the water in Pleven is lost.
Regarding the condition of the dams, Minister Dimitrov pointed out that there are none with critically low levels. We are concerned about some facilities being reconnected to the domestic water supply. The most critical from the point of view of the use of drinking water is the state of the available water resource in the "Kamchia" dam, which supplies Varna and Burgas with water. This facility is mainly for Burgas, while Varna has an alternative of underground water sources, there is also a reserve dam, things are not like that for Burgas, he said. According to him, the moment is extremely worrying for Burgas, despite the availability of water, and if there is no rainfall and spring floods this year as well, there is a high probability that the water supply of the city of Burgas will be at risk.
Dimitrov pointed out that the drought should be looked at from different directions. We cannot say that only climate change is to blame for the shortage of drinking water and water for irrigation and water for energy. The problem is complex and lies in the efficiency of using the available water resource in this country, he believes. In the past, the hydrotransmission, hydromelioration and energy systems were built to work together, constantly exchanging water with each other, the minister noted and pointed out that now these systems are difficult to function, a large part of them no longer exist or are in a deplorable state. In the past, we had 17 million irrigated acres of agricultural lands with built infrastructure and facilities for them, and at this moment the irrigated acres are about 370 thousand, he pointed out.
Contrary to the perception that Bulgaria is rich in natural water resources – on the contrary, we are extremely poor in water resources. In this regard, we are superior only to Malta and Cyprus and the southern part of Greece, Minister Dimitrov also said.
Water is decreasing globally, Minister Dimitrov pointed out and pointed out that this year in Bulgaria is significantly drier than 2023.