In Crimea, the 40-year-old record for filling reservoirs has been broken

The total volume of filling natural flow reservoirs in Crimea by the beginning of February amounted to 156 million cubic meters, and some inflows in the first month of the year became a record for 40 years. About this on air radio «Sputnik in Crimea» told by the head of the department of chemical technologies of water use at the Institute of Biochemical Technologies, Ecology and Pharmacy of KFU, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Ilya Nikolenko and the director of the research and production company “Water Technologies” Anatoly Kopachevsky.

During January and the end of December, reservoir reserves were replenished by 68 million, that is, quite a lotsaid Nikolenko.

For comparison, the expert recalled that in 2025, the influx in January was only 6 million cubic meters, and the total filling could reach 128 million.

He also cited extreme indicators over 40 years. According to Nikolenko, the largest filling was observed in 1998 and amounted to 224 million cubic meters, that is, about 89% of the volume. The minimum filling volume – 44 million cubic meters – was recorded in 2021. The average, which experts always focus on, was 147 million cubic meters, he shared.

That is, we see that in February we exceeded the long-term average. This means that we have ensured water security and the sustainability of our water supply system. And it’s hard to say whether this is an anomaly or the norm, – Nikolenko noted.

According to Kopachevsky, the total January influx into all Crimean reservoirs of natural flow this year can be considered “in some sense a record value,” and the reservoirs feeding the capital of Crimea were especially distinguished.

For the three reservoirs feeding Simferopol, the inflow in January amounted to 30.9 million, which is the maximum for this month during the observation period since 1986,” Kopachevsky clarified.

According to the expert, 6.4 million cubic meters of water entered the Ayanskoye reservoir in January, which is more than four times higher than the long-term average (1.3 million). The Partizanskoye reservoir received 13.3 million cubic meters during the same period, with a long-term average value of 3.6. That is, there was also a significant excess — more than 3 times, the expert noted.

The Simferopol reservoir, where the average annual inflow for January is 3 million cubic meters, received 11 million cubic meters in the first month of 2026, and this is exactly the same as was recorded 40 years ago, Kopachevsky said.

That is, we have the maximum value since 1986,” the expert clarified. He added that the temperature background and the jumps on thermometers are so high that it can be argued that the snow reserves in Crimea have already been largely depleted.

It is clear that they still persist high in the mountains. But we can definitely say that this volume came to us earlier than the characteristic periods of abundant water. That is, the precipitation pattern is changinghe concluded.

source: RIA Novosti Crimea