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August 26 - 29, 2003 ULRMC specialists, together with experts from laboratories of the State Environmental Inspectorate, State Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in Kherson and Mykolayiv Oblasts, conducted an expedition in the Dnipro Estuary to study its water quality. A representative from the U. S. Embassy in Kyiv was also present to observe the work. The expedition was the third conducted in connection with ULRMC's project on "Water Quality Program Assessment and Abatement Dnipro Estuary Project - Phase 2," an international technical assistance project of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), registered with the Ministry of Economy and European Integration Issues of Ukraine.
The water quality study was conducted in two locations: the lower portion of the Dnipro-Buh Estuary near the Black Sea, including lower sections of the Buh River, and in the upper reaches of the Dnipro Estuary to the dam of Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. The water samples taken during the expedition are being processed in the laboratories of the State Environmental Inspectorate, State Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources in Kherson and Mykolayiv Oblasts.
A preliminary assessment of the water quality suggests an increase in the level of contamination in the estuary compared to results of the last expedition in July 2003. One indicator of this process was the blooming of cyanobacteria. The results of expedition would be transferred to the State Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in Kherson and Mykolayiv oblasts for undertaking measures in improving the environmental situation in the Dnipro Estuary.
Laboratories at the State Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in Kherson and Mykolayiv Oblasts conduct regular monitoring of water quality in the South Buh River in the area of Mykolayiv city and in the Dnipro River near Nova Kakhovka. These laboratories also monitor the sewage treatment facilities of Mykolayiv and Kherson cities. The laboratory of the State Department of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in Kherson Oblast regularly monitors chlorophyll-a in the upper reaches of the Dnipro Estuary.
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