Chișinău faces risk of drinking water outage as Dniester level falls to near-record low

Moldova has been in a state of hydrological emergency since late July — the level of the Dniester, which supplies drinking water to nearly 80% of the country's population, has fallen due to drought to near-record lows. Following negotiations in the Dniester Commission, the outflow from the Ukrainian Novodnistrovsk reservoir was reduced from 100 to 85 cubic meters per second starting July 31, since inflow into the reservoir amounts to only 30–40 m³/s because of the drought — meaning Ukraine is dealing with the same drought as Moldova, rather than deliberately restricting Moldova's water. At the same time, the situation has triggered a political rift between Moldova's government and the mayor of the capital.

Why the water level is falling

The cause lies upstream in the Ukrainian Carpathians, where a lack of rainfall has significantly reduced water reserves in the Novodnistrovsk reservoir — its level is currently almost 8 meters lower than is typical for this time of year. Only 30–40 cubic meters of water per second are flowing into the reservoir, whereas until now 100 m³/s had been flowing out of it toward Moldova. Europa Liberă Moldova ↗ Moldova's State Hydrometeorological Service therefore issued a yellow alert for the Naslavcea–Dubăsari stretch (flow at 35–40% of the multi-year August average) and an orange alert for the Dubăsari–Tudora stretch (25–30%). Following negotiations, Ukraine reduced the reservoir's outflow by 15 m³/s to 85 m³/s for the next two weeks starting July 31. NewsMaker ↗

How this threatens Chișinău

Almost the entire drinking water supply of the Moldovan capital depends on the pumping station at Vadul lui Vodă. It was built in the 1960s for an optimal level of 9.1 meters, but the riverbed has since changed and the critical threshold has now dropped to 8.3 meters — a level that can only be maintained if at least 90 m³/s flows in from Novodnistrovsk. Radu Cazacu, deputy director of the state authority "Apele Moldovei," explained that the station has a massive chamber with large intake openings through which water flows in for pumping — if the level falls below the threshold, air begins to enter the chamber, which can cause pump failure. Europa Liberă Moldova ↗ Apă-Canal Chișinău, the main water supplier in the capital, claims the station is operating normally right at the limit, but it refused to allow Europa Liberă journalists inside, citing its status as a strategic facility. A new station funded by the EU and Germany at a cost of €56 million is only planned for the future. Europa Liberă Moldova ↗

Political dispute instead of joint action

Instead of unified crisis management, a dispute has flared up in Moldova between the government and the opposition leadership of Chișinău over the issue. Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder stated that he had been requesting information since March from municipalities supplied by the Dniester, including Chișinău, about alternative water sources in case of drought or contamination, but had received no response from Chișinău's city hall. ProTV Moldova ↗ Mayor Ion Ceban rejected the accusations, claiming that the ruling PAS party is using the issue to artificially divert attention from rising gas prices and public-sector wages, and declared: "If Chișinău is left without water, it will be entirely your fault." He announced that he would turn to the prosecutor's office and would also inform international institutions about the minister's statements. ProTV Moldova ↗

Limits of this account

This is not a dispute between Ukraine and Moldova — both sides are negotiating within the joint Dniester Commission, and Ukraine, despite facing its own drought, has kept the outflow higher than it originally proposed. Drought is affecting much of Europe this year, including neighboring Romania, where the company Nuclearelectrica announced on July 27 that, due to an unprecedentedly low level of the Danube, it would carry out a controlled and preventive shutdown of Unit 1 of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant on the morning of July 28, with no impact on nuclear safety, personnel, or the environment BVB/Nuclearelectrica ↗ — which lends credibility to Ukraine's explanation. The domestic dispute between Minister Hajder and Mayor Ceban, by contrast, is difficult to verify independently — both sides have a political interest in shifting responsibility onto the other, and the article is based on their public statements rather than an independent investigation into who actually neglected drought preparedness.

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