site.bta460 Settlements Report Water Scarcity This Summer

Hundreds of Bulgarians are affected by water shortage this summer. According to data published by the Green Movement, 458 settlements in Bulgaria have their water supply rationed.

The map shows that all parts of the country are effected. 

At the end of July, Regional Development Minister Ivan Ivanov stated that the number of people affected by disrupted water supply was 162,000, with 10 cities and 183 villages having problems with water scarcity. The numbers have increased in August. Ivanov pointed to the lack of rainfall, damaged infrastructure and polluted water sources as the main reasons for the water shortage.

While some disgruntled residents hold protest to urge the authorities to act and remedy the situation, others are resorting to prayers and rely on divide intervention.

In Pleven (North Central Bulgaria), which is the largest of the cities hit by a water crisis, the authorities are considering a partial state of emergency, Pleven Mayor Valentin Hristov said. The situation in the city which is home to a population of 100,000 remains critical, as water rationing is drastic and people's patience is running out. "They cannot stand this water rationing and this water shortage any more," Hristov emphasized. Residents of Pleven staged a protest in front of City Hall on Sunday evening over the ongoing water rationing scheme that has been in place since early July.

Projects worth nearly BGN 40 million will be implemented in order to improve water supply, the CEO of the local water company, Kliment Todorov, said on Monday.

On Friday, residents of Breznik (Western Bulgaria) also held a protest in connection with the declared partial state of emergency in the town and the poor water quality from the Krasava Reservoir, where elevated manganese levels have been measures. People gathered in front of the community centre to express their disapproval of the measures taken so far by the institutions to deal with the crisis. Dr. Valeri Velichkov, a local general practitioner, said that many settlements in Bulgaria have problems with water shortages, but only residents of Breznik Municipality drink toxic water, stressing that the manganese in the water causes severe accumulations and damage to the brain.

During a celebration of forests and mountains, a prayer for rain was offered in Stakevtsi, near Belogradchik in Northwestern Bulgaria at the beginning of August. The vicar of the Belogradchik congregation, Father Raphael, performed a water blessing ritual, after which he called on those present to join in the common prayer. In the village of Zgorigrad, also in the northwest of Bulgaria, water began to be rationed in early August, the Vratsa Water and Sewerage Company told BTA. The village uses drinking water form an own source, whose output has decreased due to the drought in the region, which is why no water reaches the higher parts of the settlement.

Water rationing was introduced in settlements in Sevlievo Municipality and Gabrovo Municipality (Central Bulgaria) as well, the local administrations said. In the town of Sevlievo (some 20,000 population) the pressure in the town's water supply network will be reduced in the evenings. The local administration has banned the use of drinking water for irrigation, watering green areas, washing streets, terraces, motor vehicles, and filling swimming pools.

Banite Mayor Pavlin Belchev introduced a water rationing scheme in the village of Valchan Dol (Southern Bulgaria), the Water Supply and Sewerage Company in Smolyan stated. The reason is that there has been a decrease in the water in the reservoir, which is why the village will have no water from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. A rationing scheme for drinking water has also been introduced in the Vazrazhdane district of the town of Rudozem since July 10.

On August 14, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) stated that it has started an inspection of water supply companies across the country. The inspection is in connection with reports regarding the systematic violation of access to drinking water, as a result of the problems with water shortages in all regions in the country. The focus of the inspection will be water losses in the water supply network, zoning of the water supply network, efficiency of construction of the water metering system, as well as the investments made for this purpose by the water supply companies in the regional capitals. After a thorough study of all facts and circumstances, the working group will prepare a report on the results of the inspection, the EWRC added.