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Construction Stages of the North Crimean Canal

Stages of construction and commissioning of the main hydrotechnical system of the North Crimean Canal, carried out in several phases starting from 1957.

Overview

Design and survey work for the construction of the canal network in Crimea began with the participation of Ukrainian institutes in 1951 following the Resolution of the CC All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the USSR Council of Ministers of September 1950 regarding the construction of the Kakhovka HPP and Kakhovka Reservoir. Starting in 1954, preparatory work assumed a large-scale character, and the official start of construction was given in 1957. The construction of the canal was planned in three stages, intended to cover all regions of the Crimean Peninsula with irrigation and drinking water supply — from Perekop and Dzhankoy to Kerch, Simferopol, Tarkhankut, and the Southern Coast of Crimea.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • First Stage (1957–1975):
  • Solemnly opened on October 17, 1963, with the participation of First Secretary of the CC CPSU Nikita Khrushchev after blasting the earthen cofferdam on Perekop.
  • In 1963, Dnieper water flowed by gravity to Krasnoperekopsk, and in 1965 to Dzhankoy.
  • In 1971, water reached Kerch via two pumping stations.
  • Completed on December 29, 1975, with the commissioning of the Stantsiyne Reservoir.
  • Key parameters: length of main channel — 406.2 km (according to other data, 402.6 km), design capacity — 294 m³/s, average width — 10–15 m, maximum depth — 6 m.
  • Second Stage (1979–1986):
  • Commenced in April 1979. Increased irrigated area by 80.8 thousand hectares.
  • Provided drinking water supply to Simferopol and the Southern Coast of Crimea.
  • Within the second stage near the village of Skvortsove, Mizhhirne Reservoir was constructed — one of the largest on the peninsula.
  • Completed in 1986. In the same period, a 6 km connecting canal was built between the Rozdolne and Chornomorske canals (with a water lift of 88 m).
  • Planned reservoirs Zapovidne-1 and Zapovidne-2 south of Simferopol were never constructed due to lack of funds.
  • Third Stage (1983–unfinished):
  • Commenced in July 1983 with a calculated irrigation area of 89.3 thousand hectares (total design irrigation area — 187.7 thousand hectares).
  • Was intended to cover the Syvash Lowland, Southern Coast, Karkinit Bay, central Crimea, and the Tarkhankut Plateau.
  • Due to a lack of funding in the late 1980s and 1990s, the third stage remained unfinished.
  • Economic and Ecological Impact: Thanks to the first and second stages, the area of irrigated land in Crimea quadrupled, grain yields increased 4.5-fold, and rice cultivation (>20 thousand hectares) and fish farming emerged. At the same time, Ukraine paid a high ecological and cultural price for the creation of the reservoir (flooding of Velykyi Luh).