site.btaMunicipalities Are Not Doing Enough to Address Water Shortage, Says Water Minister

In many cases, municipalities that have been suffering from water shortages for years are not doing enough to solve the lack of water, said caretaker Environment and Water Minister Petar Dimitrov in Burgas on Tuesday. 

As an example he noted the state programme for financing municipal projects for the period 2024-2026, to which there are almost no submitted projects related to water supply and sanitation. "I am surprised by the local authorities who have long-standing problems related to water, but do not participate in infrastructure renewal programmes. A more responsible attitude is needed on their part", Dimitrov emphasised.

He added that in Pernik, for example, water losses exceed 80%, and even though the city often faces a water regime, no action is taken. "The problem with dehydration is very serious. The situation has been alarming for the past four years. According to data from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the past month of June was the warmest since statistics began being compiled. At the same time, the inflow is decreasing, especially in the Danube basin", Dimitrov warned. 

"The reasons are climate change, which reduces groundwater, but of course also the low efficiency of our water transmission systems. Water losses are enormous, including in places with completed water cycles", the Minister said, adding that there are however municipalities which boasts positive results. "Vratsa, for example, was able to reduce losses significantly", Dimitrov noted.

Dimitrov was in Burgas for a conference called From the Source of the Danube to the Black Sea - Healthy Water and a Healthy Life, hosted by the Burgas Free University and organized by the European Commission and the Environment and Water Ministry. Among the participants were Ivelina Vasileva, the representative of Bulgaria to the EU's Mission for the Oceans and Waters, and Burgas Regional Governor Maria Neykova.