After the disaster - Nature Takes Over

Blowing up the Kakhovka dam was a disaster – but now nature is taking over.

Let’s face it – this is not just about the sea, but about water near the Black Sea and that nature once again takes over where man leaves off.

The Kakhovkare reservoir had a surface area of 2,150 square kilometres, was 8.4 metres deep and held 18.2 cubic kilometres of water. All that was destroyed on the night of 6 June 2023 when the dam’s embankments exploded, spilling huge amounts of water across the flat landscape.

Tens of thousands of people’s homes were flooded and large amounts of contaminated water washed into the Black Sea.

Blowing up the dam was a humanitarian, economic and ecological disaster. But, as it turns out, a unique natural area is emerging from the disaster, with wetlands and new wildlife.

– As the water recedes, what was once the bottom becomes dry. It is very unusual for a huge area to suddenly be ‘given back’ to nature. The opportunity to study how animals and plants react to this is incredibly interesting,’ says Brian Kuns, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Rural Affairs, Division of Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Brian Kuns wrote his thesis on current agriculture in the areas near the Kachovka Dam, but is currently working on several projects on how the war affects agriculture, the environment and people in Ukraine.

The wetland is coming back

Now, different plant communities are spreading and the wetland is taking over the area. As in many other places where humans leave, nature is reclaiming what was built in and built away, and plants and animals are regaining their living space.

The Ukrainian government has decided that the dam should be rebuilt. But there are also ideas to leave the wetlands in place and turn the area into a national park.

– ‘It’s not possible to rebuild the dam or create a nature reserve during the war,’ says Mr Kuns. But discussing these challenges now will hopefully put Ukraine in a better position when the war ends.