Kharkiv Oblast
Featured CaseStudyThe Tsyrkunivska community. A de-occupied and frontline area: consequences of the occupation and hostilities, damaged water supply and wastewater systems, and pollution risks.
In Brief
The project compares the water management systems of communities facing different types of vulnerabilities: occupation and hostilities, altered hydrological regimes, and industrial and agricultural pressures. Fieldwork has already included a comparative analysis of water management in five small towns and on-site assessments of community water infrastructure. The goal is to develop a unified assessment approach suitable for each of these areas.
The Problem
Why compare such different territories?
The challenges facing communities’ water management systems have different origins. For some areas, the defining factors are occupation, hostilities, and destroyed infrastructure; for others, they include altered hydrological conditions, industrial pollution, resource extraction, water scarcity, or agricultural pressure.
At the same time, all these communities need the same thing: a systematic assessment of water resources, infrastructure, and natural ecosystems, as well as the identification of risks and well-founded priorities for recovery.
How We Identified the Need
From our own experience: a comparative analysis of water management in five small towns, individual studies, and field assessments of communities’ water infrastructure. This experience has shown that we need to move from assessing each territory individually to a unified approach for communities with different types of vulnerabilities.
The Tsyrkunivska Community: A Case Study
The community faces several types of vulnerabilities: the consequences of occupation and hostilities, damaged water supply and wastewater systems, and pollution risks. Its water system includes over 270 hectares of water surface, 8.5 km of the Kharkiv River channel, and approximately 240 hectares of floodplain meadows and wetlands around the Vyalovskyi Reservoir. This describes the community and the condition of its infrastructure, not the scope of work carried out by the foundation.
Project Logic
Goals, Objectives, and Their Benefits
The goal is to move from an individual assessment of each territory to a unified approach that can be applied in communities with different types of environmental, infrastructural, and military vulnerabilities.
| Objectives | What We Are Doing | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Assess a de-occupied and frontline community | Tsyrkunivska community: water supply and wastewater management, including the condition of groundwater and surface water, hydraulic structures, and ecosystems | Benchmark case for comparison |
| Assess areas with altered hydrological regimes | Kyiv Oblast: the Irpin and Stugna river basins, the Fastiv community, and communities in the Bucha District | Areas for further work have been identified |
| Work remotely with occupied territories | Luhansk and Donetsk regions: community documents, archival materials, open-source and satellite data, information from displaced communities and experts | Information base for field verification after de-occupation |
| Cover industrial and agricultural regions | The Ingulets, Ingul, Vorskla, and Psla river basins | An approach for territories with different sources of environmental risks |
| Standardize the assessment | Unified assessment protocol, GIS mapping, digital water body model, remote assessment | Foundation of an interregional monitoring model |
Method
How the process works
Case Study
Each community presents its own type of vulnerability.
Field or Remote Assessment
Where there is safe access, we work on-site. Where there isn’t, we work with documents, archives, and satellite data.
Comparison
We compare issues of different origins using the same criteria.
Unified protocol
We compile our findings into a standardized assessment methodology.
Comparing communities of different types has laid the foundation for transitioning from individual local studies to a unified methodology for assessing community water systems.
Geography
Different territories, a unified assessment system
The territories were selected so that the methodology could be tested under various conditions: in de-occupied and frontline areas, occupied territories, and industrial and agricultural regions.
Kyiv Oblast
The Irpin and Stugna river basins, the Fastiv community, and communities in the Bucha District. The focus is on the hydrological regime that has changed since 2022, the condition of hydraulic structures, and the risks of flooding. A separate case involves the systematic flooding of the rehabilitation center’s grounds, identified during the team’s fieldwork.
Luhansk Oblast
The Lysychansk community and the Siverskyi Donets basin. Due to the occupation, field research is impossible, so we are working with the displaced community, documents, archives, and remote and satellite data.
Donetsk Oblast
Occupied and temporarily inaccessible communities. Remote analysis is being conducted, taking into account the combined effects of the war and years of industrial pollution on the water.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
The Ingulets River basin. Industrial pressure associated with iron ore mining and discharges into water bodies.
Kirovohrad Oblast
Ingul River Basin. The region’s uranium legacy and water scarcity.
Poltava Oblast
Vorskla and Psel River Basins. Oil and gas production and agricultural activities.
Limitations
What this project does not do
From the project description
Field research is not conducted in occupied or dangerous territories. For the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the project is compiling a database of information from documents, archives, open-source data, and satellite imagery so that, following de-occupation, it can serve as the basis for field verification, environmental assessments, and restoration projects.
Context
Place within the environmental program
The foundation’s environmental track consists of sequential phases: each phase addressed a question raised by the previous one.
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Environmental restoration of communities affected by the war
Transition from responding to destruction to analyzing long-term risks to water, soil, and natural areas in these communities.
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Restoration of natural ecosystems and environmental sustainability in communities
The state of the environment began to be considered alongside infrastructure and people’s needs.
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Comprehensive assessment of water resources and environmental risks in communities
Pilot project in the Tsyrkunivska community: water supply, wastewater management, groundwater, and ecosystems as a single system.
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Comprehensive assessment and modernization of community water supply and wastewater systems
Field surveys and water testing. Key finding: An environmental assessment must be conducted prior to any investment decision.
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Comparative assessment of water management in Ukrainian communities
A comparison of different types of communities showed that a unified assessment methodology is needed.
This project -
Digital Monitoring and Mapping of Municipal Water Ecosystems
Standardized field data collection, GIS mapping, digital model of a water body, remote engagement of experts.
Ongoing -
LIVING WATER
Transition from individual territories to a network of communities using a common methodology.
The concept has been submitted
Verification
Documents
Public
- Bylaws, certificates, and contact information for the foundation
- Fund Reports
- Description of the Environmental Program
- News about the water and wastewater inspection at a rehabilitation center in the Kyiv region
- Article: “Community Strategy Under Occupation: How Lysychansk’s Recovery Is Being Planned”
Available upon request
- Project description and the team’s working materials
- Photos from field trips
- The foundation’s policies and compliance documents
About the organization
Charitable Organization “International Unity Movement Foundation,” EDRPOU 44797809. Compliance management system in accordance with ISO 37301:2021. Confidential inquiries: [email protected]. The complete partner verification package is available on the partners’ page.
Discuss participation in the project
The project is ongoing. We are open to collaboration with communities, research institutions, and partners funding reconstruction efforts: access to territories, expertise, and joint applications.
