Prime Minister orders Ministry of Environment and Water to take urgent action in connection with water shortages in the country

By order of caretaker Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev, on November 7, a meeting is to be convened as soon as possible at the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) regarding the reduced usable volume of the Ticha Dam and the shortage of water for drinking and domestic use.

An alert was sent to the Prime Minister by the District Governor of Shumen, who reported the serious situation in the region. Caretaker Prime Minister Glavchev expects the MoEW to organise a working meeting with the participation of all relevant ministries as soon as possible to identify measures to tackle the crisis.

The Ticha dam is a major source of water supply and provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of households in the Shumen and Targovishte districts (northern Bulgaria).

An alert has been sent to the Prime Minister by the District Governor of Pleven as well, and a meeting has already been scheduled to identify follow-up actions on this issue.

Due to the enormity of the problem of water shortages in the country, the caretaker Prime Minister has recommended that the Minister of Environment and Water consider convening a meeting of the High Advisory Council on Water to bring in additional expert and scientific opinion to tackle the crisis.

Another mechanism that could be activated to involve all relevant agencies and improve coordination and interaction between them is through the Water Coordination Council.

According to the Water Act, this council carries out the integration of water and sectoral policies in the water sector and includes representatives of nine ministries and the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria.

In his capacity as chairman of the council, the Minister of Environment and Water can convene an extraordinary meeting to discuss the report of the working group on tackling water scarcity, set up on the orders of caretaker Prime Minister Glavchev, and to propose measures and actions on the problem as a matter of urgency.