---
title: "Severe drought turns Moldova's Taraclia Reservoir as salty as sea "
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/85440/severe-drought-turns-moldova-s-taraclia-reservoir-as-salty-as-sea
published: 2026-09-20T06:30:00Z
language: en
author: "Ecaterina  Terzi"
section: "Social"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Severe drought turns Moldova's Taraclia Reservoir as salty as sea 

> A prolonged drought has shrunk Moldova’s Taraclia Reservoir by 30%, cutting average depths to just 50 centimeters and pushing salinity levels close to those of the Black Sea.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/e06e98c0-933e-4df0-ad3f-f95685ddf1cf.jpg)

A prolonged drought has shrunk Moldova’s Taraclia Reservoir by 30%, cutting average depths to just 50 centimeters and pushing salinity levels close to those of the Black Sea.

The dramatic drop in water volume has wiped out commercial fishing in the country’s fourth-largest reservoir and triggered severe ecological concerns. Built during the 1980s, the artificial basin spans 5.2 kilometers in length and approximately one kilometer in width, but years of low rainfall and agricultural runoff have degraded both water capacity and chemical composition.

**Vanishing water and rising salinity**

Local residents recall that the reservoir was once deep and abundant with fish, supporting regular boat operations and recreational angling. Today, extensive mudflats dominate the landscape as the water table retreats.

Commercial fishing has ceased entirely due to high mineralization and insufficient depth. *“We can no longer operate because there is no depth left, and despite our efforts, we have had no catch,”* said reservoir leaseholder Mihail Dzeașov. *“In terms of salinity, we already have seawater. Mineralization exceeds 12 grams per liter, reaching 14 per mille compared to 17 per mille in the Black Sea.”*

District officials in southern Moldova stress that addressing the water crisis requires national intervention. Lazar Dermenji, President of the Taraclia District Council, noted that an existing irrigation canal from the Prut River currently ends at the border of neighboring Cahul District. Local farmers have offered to install private pumping stations at their own expense if authorities extend the conduit to refill the reservoir.

*“The lake was originally designed as a hydrotechnical hub intended to draw water from the Danube through Lake Cahul and the Ialpug River,”* said Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder. *“Under current conditions, that is more difficult to achieve, but we must establish a mechanism to evaluate the feasibility of replenishing the reservoir from the Danube.”*

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/e208c351-07bf-47e6-a68d-1b1f020f386b.jpg)

**Emergency repairs to protect infrastructure**

Alongside acute water loss, decades of soil erosion and cracked concrete slabs have structurally weakened the reservoir’s dam. The deterioration poses an immediate risk to the main transit corridor connecting the town of Taraclia with surrounding rural communities.

Authorities launched emergency reconstruction works this summer along a two-kilometer stretch of the dam. Crews are clearing woody vegetation, removing damaged concrete plates, stabilizing the underlying soil, and laying new reinforced pavement.

*“We are removing the degraded concrete because rainwater washed away the soil beneath it,”* explained construction foreman Veaceslav Davidoglo, adding that teams have completed nearly 30% of the earthwork and repaving.

Taraclia Mayor Ecaterina Iacobceac stressed the urgency of securing vulnerable sections of the barrier. *“Reinforcing section number six was critical because it was prone to water seepage beneath the roadbed, which could have triggered a road collapse,”* she said.

The entire reinforcement initiative is scheduled to take two years, with total costs estimated at approximately €1.0 million (approx. 20 million MDL).

Translation by **Iurie Tataru**
***
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