Bulgaria: Water restrictions in some municipalities amid persistently high temperatures
There is not a single municipality in the Varna district on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast that does not have villages subject to water restrictions, according to a July 23 report by Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).
The reason is that because to the drought and high temperatures that Bulgaria has been experiencing, the underground water catchment facilities are dry.
Between 10 and 15 villages in the Varna disrict currently have water restrictions, Vesselin Roussev, manager of the water supply utility in Varna, said.
The most serious problems are in the municipality of Avren – the villages of Benkovski, Priseltsi, Zdravets and Sadovo, BNR said.
There are also difficulties in Dolen Chiflik, Solnik and Byala municipality, Roussev said.
He said that Devnya, Beloslav and Provadia are exceptions because they are close to water sources.
Roussev has held meetings with the mayors of municipalities in the district.
He repeated a call for residents of the district to use water only for domestic needs, not for – for example – watering gardens or washing cars.
There are water resrictions in 10 villages in Karnobat municipality, BNR said: Exarch Antimovo, Sarnevo, Cherkovo, Raklitsa, Smolnik, Dragantsi, Venets, Zhitosvyat and Zheleznik.
“These are settlements with their own water sources that are drying up, and those that remain have a low flow rate. The exception is Khadji, which is supplied with water from Kamchia,” Karnobat mayor Georgi Dimitrov said.
“The water supply has been reduced there, the same applies to the village of Sigmen. A lot of water goes to Bourgas and the sea, towards Sunny Beach. The situation is alarming. We have been talking to the waterworks, first in San Stefano, where there is no water at all,” he said.
Dimitrov said that the big problem was that no European programme provides funds for water supply systems in settlements with less than 2000 equivalent inhabitants, and now priority is being given to municipalities of more than 10 000.
He also saw a problem in the lack of sufficient underground water sources.
In a separate report, BNR said that 25 settlements in the Shoumen region have water restrictions.
From July 2, water supply in the village of Sechishte, Novi Pazar municipality, is on every 48 hours, with the upper and lower parts of the village alternating every two days.
According to Bulgaria’s national weather bureau, 2023 was the warmest on record in the country since official records began in 1930. Since autumn 2023, consecutive months have seen temperatures records. Prolonged heat waves have followed in June and July 2024, with the latter month having seen several temperatures broken in various parts of the country.
(Photo: Ivan Prole/ sxc.hu)
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