site.btaEnvironment Minister: Overall Solution to Water Shortages Lies in Improving Network Efficiency

The overall solution to the problem with water shortages across the country is in improving the efficiency of water distribution network, said Environment Minister Petar Dimitrov on bTV. Minister Dimitrov said that in Vratsa with good management and the construction of new infrastructure funded by the OP Environment, the losses are now minimal. Based on the data received from the water utilities, water consumption in the region of Vratsa has dropped from 24 million cubic meters to 9 million cubic meters on an annual basis with the repair of the facilities.

According to him, for Pleven in the short term, quick measures can bring good results. He gave an example with Sofiyska Voda with the water network in Sofia. Here the situation was more or less the same, the losses reached 80%, but with a far-sighted management and assessment of where the most water is lost and where it needs to be repaired in small sections and quickly, these water losses fell below 50%, he said.

Of the state of reservoirs, Minister Dimitrov said that there are none with critically low levels. “We are concerned about some facilities that are again related to drinking water supply. The most critical is the Kamchia dam, which supplies water to Varna and Burgas,” he said.

Dimitrov said that the lack of water should be seen from different directions. “We cannot say that climate change alone is to blame for the shortage of drinking water and water for irrigation and water for energy. The problem is complex and lies in the efficiency of use of the available water resource in this country,” he said.

Contrary to the widespread perception, Bulgaria is extremely poor in water resources, just before Malta, Cyprus and the southern part of Greece, Minister Dimitrov said.

Water resources are decreasing globally, Minister Dimitrov said, adding that this year in Bulgaria is significantly drier than 2023.