At the 97-kilometer mark of the Danube, near the Repida-ISRZ lock in Izmail District, a protective dam is being destroyed. From it to the artesian wells that supply drinking water to almost 100,000 residents of Izmail and the villages of Broska and Matroska, there remains exactly three meters of earthen buffer. Last year this buffer was six meters.
What is being destroyed and why
The total width of the dam berm is 11 meters. According to the Izmail Regional State Administration, as of March 2026, 8 meters have already been washed away: in 2025 this figure was approximately 5 meters. The Danube continuously undermines the dam due to the winding shape of the riverbed and turbulent current even at low water levels. Head of the Izmail Regional State Administration Rodion Abashev described the situation concisely:
"The thickness of the dam now stands at only three meters. This is very little."
Rodion Abashev, Head of the Izmail Regional State Administration
In the event of a breach, not only the wells would be at risk, but also approximately 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Safianivska community and residential infrastructure along the shore.
What the government allocated — and what is lacking
The Cabinet of Ministers directed 49.4 million hryvnia from the reserve fund for emergency restoration work — that is, to stop further destruction, not to solve the problem. Deputy Minister of Economy Vitaliy Kindratov emphasized that the funding would allow "promptly beginning work and preventing a man-made emergency situation."
But back in March, at an extraordinary meeting of the commission on man-made and environmental safety of the Odesa Regional State Administration, a decision was made to appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers regarding 55.8 million hryvnia for the construction of a duplicate dam — a parallel structure that is the only one that can guarantee protection in case the main dam collapses. Less was allocated, and not for the duplicate structure.
- Allocated: 49.4 million hryvnia — emergency repair of the existing dam
- Requested: 55.8 million hryvnia — construction of a new duplicate dam
- The Cabinet of Ministers approved the decision to build a duplicate dam in the fall of 2025 — construction timelines have not yet been determined
The logic of risk
Emergency repair and a new dam are different things in nature. Repair slows erosion, but does not eliminate the cause: the turbulent current of the Danube in this section acts constantly, regardless of season. Specialists from the Izmail Water Management Department directly indicate: only a duplicate dam can prevent a disaster. Until it exists, each flood is a new test for the three meters that remain.
The Danube this season, according to local authorities' forecasts, is expected to be higher than normal levels.
If construction of the duplicate dam does not begin before the next flood season — will the repaired structure be sufficient to protect the water supply to a city with a population of over 70,000 people?
