Two years on from the devastating floods in the wake of the Kakhovka Dam destruction, the landscape is returning to its natural state. But climate change and plans for a new dam are threatening the new ecosystem.
Two years ago, in the early hours of June 6, 2023, the Kakhovka Dam was partially destroyed,flooding nearby towns and citiesin southern Ukraine — including in Russian-controlled territory. As the reservoir, which provided water for the nearby hydroelectric station, spilled into the surrounding lowlands, Ukraine and Russiatraded accusationsover the dam's destruction.
After the water receded, the exposed basin underwent adramatic transformation, initially drying out and becoming a desert. Today, lush vegetation has taken over, home to a wide variety of wildlife.
The Dnipro River — Ukraine's largest — has once again formed vast floodplains, similar to those that were there before the dam was first built in the 1950s. Ecologist Vadym Maniuk told DW that the Dnipro has many tributaries in the area.
Much of what happens in the floodplain landscape is hidden from view, he said, but streams like these are all along the river.
"They can be fast-flowing streams, or narrow or wider ones, resembling ponds. All these labyrinths existed before the area was flooded to build the dam," he said.
Birdsong interrupts the babbling of the many brooks, as Maniuk spots a sea eagle. "Just seeing that makes it worth bringing along a pair of binoculars," he said, gazing skyward. "That's the true ruler of the Dnipro floodplains."
Over the next few hours, Maniuk's team also identifies hawks, buzzards, herons, swallows, snakes, a muskrat and the tracks left in the mud by wild boars. Locals say they have even spotted deer. According to the ecologist, the underbrush teems with ants, wasps, beetles, assassin bugs, butterflies and praying mantises.
Among the grasses, the team finds the fossilized bones of prehistoric animals and fragments of pottery. One of the bones looks like a hoof, and Maniuk picks it up and examines it.
"This is an ancient bone. There were no cows here back then," he said. "There are lots of bones like this here, including from woolly rhinoceroses and mammoths, and other large prehistoric large animals."
Maniuk surveyed the area a year ago, and he said the difference between then and now is striking. Grasses have sprouted up everywhere, and the different varieties of flowering plants havegrown from about 200 to nearly 500 species.
Where once was dry sand, green meadows now flourish. Poppies, sedges, thistles, goat's rue and wild rye bloom everywhere. "None of this was here a year ago," said Maniuk, adding that, "over time, not only forests but also meadows will form here."
By now, the trees have grown five or six meters (15–20 feet) tall; Maniuk estimates the willows and poplars have shot up by about a meter over the last 12 months. But he said it was too dangerous to proceed any further. "The forest has changed, it's become much denser and larger," he explained.
The past year hasn't been easy for the floodplains, said Maniuk. The summer and fall of 2024 were too dry, and the trees started to wither. Thanks to the spring rains, however, the landscape has started recovering.
"The floodplains withstood their first trial," he said, "but we're concerned about the upcoming season."
But the future of this new ecosystem remains uncertain, as Ukraine is still deliberating whether or not to rebuild the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant destroyed in 2023.
Petro Volvach, an ecologist and agricultural historian, visited the floodplains as a child before the dam was built. He's against the plant being reconstructed, as it would destroy the newly formed landscape.
Maniuk agrees. "I'm sure this could be counted as one of Europe's top 10 national parks," he said enthusiastically. "It would be incredible!"
But engineers argue that the entire Kakhovka plant is vital for supplying water to the region's residents and businesses, as well as for agricultural irrigation, shipping and the energy system. Since the dam's destruction, there hasn't been enough water to go around.
Oleh Pashchenko from the Kakhovkahydroelectric power plantwarned that the absence of the reservoir is threatening the survival of the entire region.
"The water level in the wells is decreasing every year," he said. In the first six months after the dam's destruction, levels fell by five meters; now they are 15 meters or more below normal levels.
Pashchenko predicted that 2025 will be a difficult year for the Dnipro River, as inflows are already three to five times lower than usual. "That is why the reservoir must be rebuilt," he said. Otherwise, he fears, without it, "we'll soon have a desert."
The current situation, he added, is not yet critical due to the sharp population decline caused by the war and reduced agricultural and industrial activity. But water shortages will worsen once people return, he said.
Meanwhile, the state energy company Ukrhydroenergo is developing plans to rebuild the power plant and reservoir. The first step will be examining the remains of the dam and the reservoir bed. Reconstruction of the power plant could take five to six years; refilling the reservoir alone expected to take two years. Ukrhydroenergo said this is the only way to ensure safe drinking water for the region.
"If the state needs it, we will build a large power plant there," said Bohdan Sukhetskyi, the acting director general of Ukrhydroenergo. "Everything depends on the economic situation. Also, experts have confirmed that without the Kakhovka reservoir, safe operation of theZaporizhzhia nuclear power plantis impossible."
This article was originally written in German.