Attachments
KEY FACTS
135 is the total number of WASH incidents since the start of 2017.
Geographical breakdown of incidents by oblast and by gov-ernment controlled versus non-government controlled areas:
Note that people are normally affected on both sides of the Line of the Contact for most incidents, given the extensive nature of water systems.
Issues to highlight
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Risk of damage through shelling continues as one of them main threats to critical water infrastructure along the Line of Contact.
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Lack of access for repairs continues to be a key issue for timely repair and providing life-saving ser-vices.
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The stoppage of the JCCC operation is preventing vital repairs of new and long-standing issues.
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There is a high level of interdependence between municipal services (water, electricity, and heating)
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4.2 million people are currently at risk of water supply failure in Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts.
OVERALL INCIDENTS ANALYSIS FOR 2017: TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
In 2017 the WASH Cluster recorded 1351 separate incidents in total, each of which put at risk the water supply or sanitation to 4.8 million people served by centralized systems in conflict-affected Eastern Ukraine, with almost 60% occurring in the first 6 months.
Donetsk oblast experienced 116 incidents: 14 in Government Controlled Areas (GCA) and 102 in Non-Government Controlled Areas (NGCA). In Luhansk oblast there were only 19 incidents: 17 in GCA areas and only 2 in NGCA areas. This is not to say Luhansk was less affected: a single incident near Popasna, in April, cut water for around 180,000 people for 27 consecutive days. The WASH Cluster notes that people were almost always affected on both sides of the Line of the Contact for most incidents.
In the overview, all months were different, however there were three main periods of increased activity, when there was heavy shelling around critical water infrastructure along the Line of Contact: February and March; May to July; and December (see below). Ceasefires were effective only for relatively short-time periods. Of the 135 incidents, water infrastructure was damaged or stopped due to explo-sive risk 80 times; and electricity cuts due to shelling affected water supply another 46 times. Waste water treatment facilities were affected by shelling or power cuts 8 times, causing risk of environmental prob-lems due to release of sewage and a water company employee was injured once.
In 2017 there were 73 stoppages of key water facilities causing water supply to be cut to households in multiple locations, for 185 days in total. Donetsk Filter station (DFS) was the worst affected water facility: DFS was shelled 35 times in 2017, mainly in the first six months, putting the DFS out of action for a total of 51 days, affecting water supply to 345,000 people in western areas of Donetsk City, Avdiivka, Yasinuvata and other areas. The First Lift Pumping Station of South Donbass Waterway (SDWW) was also quite badly affected.