Environment Minister: Country’s water intake stations must be adapted to new realities

Authorities are working on solutions to ensure the water supply for residents amid the low water levels in the Prut and Dniester rivers. Additional pumps are being installed at water intake stations, experts from Greece are expected to propose short-term solutions to overcome the situation, while in the long term, a new water intake station is planned to be built on the Dniester to supply the municipality of Chisinau, Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder made the statement.


“The situation on the Dniester and Prut rivers remains unchanged. An additional pump is being installed today at the water intake station in Leova to ensure that people are not left without water. At the same time, we are monitoring other water intake stations on the Prut and Dniester,” Hajder said.


More extensive measures are needed for the water intake station supplying the municipality of Chisinau. In this context, the Ministry of Environment invited experts from Greece to assess the situation and identify solutions to prevent the interruption of the water supply.


“They analyzed the situation, and several technical meetings were held. In the coming days, they will propose a solution. We have pumps that can ensure the continuity of the water supply, but we must prepare for such situations because the trend is quite alarming. We have to get used to drawing water at much lower levels. Therefore, the infrastructure of the municipality of Chisinau, as well as other water intake stations across the country, must be adapted to the new realities,” he said.


The minister said that, in the long term, the authorities plan to build a new water intake station on the Dniester River to supply the municipality of Chisinau. The project is currently at the concept stage and benefits from funding provided by the Government of Germany and the authorities of the Republic of Moldova.


“It is a concept, funding exists, and it is a project being negotiated between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of Germany. The Government of Germany is allocating 18 million, the Government of the Republic of Moldova 6 million, while the City Hall is allocating 2 million for an electricity line,” the minister said.


According to Gheorghe Hajder, the current water intake station serving the municipality of Chisinau is outdated and not adapted to current hydrological conditions.


“The water intake station serving the municipality of Chisinau is old, designed for the realities of a different era, and operates with extremely old pumps. The parts are very difficult to find, and Chisinau cannot rely on such an old station. I cannot guarantee that it will still function in five to ten years. In the long term, we need a new water intake station that is much more flexible and adapted to the existing realities,” Gheorghe Hajder said.


The Republic of Moldova is facing a severe hydrological deficit, caused mainly by the prolonged drought and the lack of precipitation in the upper river basins. On the Dniester, during the first 20 days of September, an average of approximately 23 cubic meters of water per second entered the Novodnestrovsk reservoir, while the downstream discharge was approximately 60 cubic meters per second, and the reservoir level dropped by about 68 centimeters. Authorities currently classify the hydrological situation as critical, with a red alert in place on the Dniester, Prut, and internal rivers.

On the Dniester, the issue of supplying the municipality of Chisinau with water is mainly related to the technical capacity of the water intake station in Vadul lui Voda to draw water at lower levels. According to the Environment Minister, the river’s flow is currently approximately 33 cubic meters per second, while the municipality of Chisinau consumes around 170,000–200,000 cubic meters of water per day, equivalent to approximately 2 cubic meters per second.

The water level on the Prut has also fallen to the minimum threshold required for the operation of some water intake stations. In Leova, the station serves 11 localities, including the city of Leova, and the authorities have installed temporary pipes and additional pumps to allow water to be drawn at a lower level and prevent interruptions to the supply.

Since September 26, the Republic of Moldova has been under a state of emergency in the hydrological sector for a period of 60 days. The authorities are continuously monitoring river levels and water intake stations and are preparing technical solutions to maintain the water supply if the drought and low flows persist.