{"id":6651,"date":"2026-09-11T07:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T04:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/2026\/09\/11\/climate-change-and-the-new-reality-why-are-the-rivers-of-transcarpathia-rapidly-dwindling\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T17:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:04:30","slug":"climate-change-and-the-new-reality-why-are-the-rivers-of-transcarpathia-rapidly-dwindling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/2026\/09\/11\/climate-change-and-the-new-reality-why-are-the-rivers-of-transcarpathia-rapidly-dwindling\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change and the New Reality: Why Are the Rivers of Transcarpathia Rapidly Dwindling?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Carpathians, which have long been considered the \u201cheart\u201d of Ukraine\u2019s water resources and the source of its clean rivers, are now facing an unprecedented environmental crisis. The region is rapidly losing water due to global climate change. Water levels in local rivers have dropped this year to as low as 15\u201325% of normal, and the groundwater level has fallen by a full 3 meters over the past 40 years.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hot, dry periods are increasingly being replaced by short but destructive downpours. <strong>Decisive action and expert opinions from specialists, in collaboration with scientists, are now needed<\/strong>, as the situation calls for immediate intervention.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Carpathian Climate Paradox<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The consequences of climate change present a real paradox for the region. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/zakarpattia-news\/\">Transcarpathia<\/a> is simultaneously suffering from two extremes:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Severe drought and low water levels<\/strong> during the summer, when small and medium-sized rivers turn into barely visible streams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Devastating floods and downpours<\/strong>, which cause erosion and fail to replenish groundwater reserves due to rapid runoff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This imbalance threatens the region\u2019s entire unique ecosystem, biodiversity, and sustainable access to water resources for local residents.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Official Response and Position of the Authorities<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue of critical water shortages has already been discussed by the relevant committee of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/2026\/09\/10\/the-transcarpathian-regional-council-held-its-24th-session-what-decisions-were-adopted\/\">the Transcarpathian Regional Council<\/a>. <strong>Heorhiy Horvat<\/strong>, a deputy of the Transcarpathian Regional Council and chair of the standing committee on ecology and natural resource use, shared an exclusive comment on the situation:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWe have brought together all representatives involved in environmental issues and all relevant experts on the Environmental Commission. There is a major problem with the rivers drying up\u2014they have reached a critical low-water level. This level is the lowest it has been since the beginning of 1945, so we must take action, as the problem is worsening.<\/em> <em>Based on the commission\u2019s findings, instructions were given to prepare an action plan to prevent low water levels in Zakarpattia, to involve scientists, and to develop appropriate measures. Of course, we understand that this is not a matter of a single day, a single month, or even a single year, but we must take action today.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can be done to save the region\u2019s water resources?<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leading experts and environmentalists emphasize the need for a comprehensive approach in line with European trends in climate change adaptation. Among the top priorities are:<\/p>\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Adaptation to new climatic conditions<\/strong> in accordance with best European practices in water resource management.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Restoration of ecosystems and wetlands<\/strong>, which act as natural sponges, retaining moisture in the region and replenishing rivers during droughts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protecting and restoring natural floodplains<\/strong> and ensuring that rivers flow freely, rather than being artificially straightened or excessively regulated.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preserving the water resources of the Carpathians is a shared responsibility of the government, the scientific community, and every citizen. Work on the action plan has already begun, but its success depends on the speed and consistency with which environmental solutions are implemented.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"\ud83d\udd25\u041a\u043b\u0456\u043c\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0447\u043d\u0456 \u0437\u043c\u0456\u043d\u0438 \u0442\u0430 \u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0440\u0435\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0456\u0441\u0442\u044c\ud83c\udf29 #\u0437\u0430\u043a\u0430\u0440\u043f\u0430\u0442\u0442\u044f #\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0438\u043d\u0438  #\u0443\u0436\u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0434\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L6o450g44jU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Carpathians, which have long been considered the \u201cheart\u201d of Ukraine\u2019s water resources and the source of its clean rivers, are now facing an unprecedented environmental crisis. The region is rapidly losing water due to global climate change. Water levels in local rivers have dropped this year to as low as 15\u201325% of normal, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1389,1390,1397,1512,1391,1392,1393,1394,1395,1396],"tags":[1647,1585,1577,1640,1646],"class_list":["post-6651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zakarpattia-news","category-berehove-district","category-khust-district","category-miscellaneous","category-mukachevo-district","category-rakhiv-district","category-reports","category-tiachiv-district","category-uzhhorod","category-uzhhorod-district","tag-climate","tag-georgiy-horvat","tag-news-from-transcarpathia","tag-transcarpathia","tag-transcarpathian-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6653,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6651\/revisions\/6653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zakvisnyk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}