Mapping the Vulnerability of Ukraine's Groundwater
Publisher: Conflict and Environment Observatory
Date: 2024
Topics: Assessment, Land, Renewable Resources, Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
Countries: Russian Federation, Ukraine
Groundwater accounts for around 99% of the liquid freshwater on Earth. However, it is often undervalued and environmental damage goes unrecorded, partly because it is hidden from view. The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report was entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’, which describes the challenges and opportunities associated with groundwater development.
In Ukraine, as in all countries, a comprehensive understanding of groundwater quality is essential to ensure clean freshwater is available for drinking, for irrigation, for critical infrastructure and for the maintenance of ecologically important areas like wetlands. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, the environmental damage has been widespread and relentless.
Damage to urban areas and to energy, industrial and agricultural sites has led to chemical pollutant runoff and the potential infiltration into groundwater. Other pollutant sources include toxic remnants from the intensive use of ordnance and leaks and discharges caused by a lack of infrastructure maintenance, such as mine tailings dams, and acid mine drainage from closed or de-energised coal mines.