Moldova’s Lifeline River Runs Dry Amid Ukraine’s Energy Woes

A severe water crisis is unfolding in Moldova, threatening the water supply for millions as its vital Dniester River reaches catastrophically low levels. The Moldovan government is now considering an official request to neighboring Ukraine for more water, as the river, which serves as a lifeline for both nations, continues to shrink at an alarming rate.

Environmental experts warn that the situation is teetering on the brink of disaster. The inflow into the Dniester reservoir has plummeted to just 40 cubic meters per second, a figure dangerously close to an all-time low. For years, the discharge from Ukraine’s upstream Dniester hydropower cascade has been roughly a third of the level considered healthy for the river’s ecosystem. The problem has been critically exacerbated by Russia’s sustained attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which have destroyed 90% of its thermal power plants and forced Kyiv to rely heavily on its functioning hydropower dams.

The ecological fallout is already starkly visible. The Dniester, which supplies the capital city of Chisinau, is reportedly “rotting” from within, with black silt appearing on the riverbed. Last year, the river was shallow enough to be crossed on foot in some areas. The crisis has prompted an international outcry from over 50 environmental organizations across Moldova, Ukraine, and the breakaway region of Transdniestria, who have appealed to the European Union to intervene and save the river from total collapse.

The crisis extends far beyond the banks of the Dniester. Across Moldova, smaller rivers are drying up, and in the southern autonomous region of Gagauzia, a 60-hectare lake has completely vanished, leaving behind only tangled fishing nets and dead fish. Farmers in the south, hit by a 70% rainfall deficit and searing temperatures, are pleading with the government to declare a state of emergency, describing the agricultural situation as an “unprecedented crisis.”

While officials from Moldova’s water agency, Apele Moldovei, state that the current water flow is sufficient to meet immediate needs, they concede that negotiations with Ukraine will be necessary if conditions worsen. Both the Moldovan and Ukrainian governments have officially pointed to climate change as a major factor. However, ecologists maintain that the management of the Ukrainian hydropower facilities is the primary driver of the impending catastrophe, creating a complex geopolitical dilemma where energy security, environmental preservation, and human survival hang in the balance.