6.5 meters suffocating the Danube Delta - how Romania is paying the price of the war in Ukraine

Severe environmental consequences resulting from the deepening of the Bâstroe Canal by Ukraine and the devastating impact on tourism in the area are increasingly visible in the Danube Delta, say local entrepreneurs and environmental activists.

The Chilia branch, vital for the Danube Delta, is hydrologically changing, its flows being some of the lowest. It is the northernmost and most active of the three branches (along with Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe), transporting approximately 60% of the total water flow of the Danube and a huge amount of alluvium.

Hydrological changes, in flow, are attributed by locals to Ukraine's actions to deepen the Bâstroe Canal to allow navigation of larger ships.

Effects began to be seen after the second half of 2025

The dredging works on the Bâstroe Canal, carried out by Ukraine, have been consistently resumed over the past five years, also due to the war with Russia.

The neighboring country needed a navigable waterway for exports since the maritime ports were no longer operational due to the Russian navy controlling the Black Sea.

The dredging operations of the Ukrainian Bâstroe Canal/branch became visible and controversial starting in 2023, when Ukrainian authorities accelerated interventions to ensure an alternative river transport corridor amid the war.

The interventions continued in 2024 and 2025. However, the real effects of the dredging were delayed by a major incident:

Since last summer, the canal was partially blocked by a stranded ship, which limited traffic and masked the impact of the dredging works.

Only after the wreck was removed from the canal, towards the end of summer, did the clear increase in depth, intensified naval traffic, and hydromorphological changes associated with the works begin to be observed.

Very low water flow

Daniel Iluşcă, president of the Association of Tourism Entrepreneurs in the Danube Delta, says he has never seen such low water flow in the Danube Delta, which has caused many channels to become impassable.

At the same time, the flora and fauna in the area are experiencing radical changes. Unfortunately, the process is irreversible.

“Water levels so low in the Delta, as we have had in the last two years, have never been before. These are effects of quite aggressive interventions in that area (red - the Ukrainian works on the Bâstroe Canal), hence the water level drops that have affected not only tourism,” said Daniel Ilușcă to Green Report.

Oxygen-deprived water

He also adds that the fact “that major and secondary canal de-silting interventions were not carried out has caused various systems to no longer be supplied with water flows and to prevent water circulation in all these ecosystems both at the entry and exit points.”

When water reaches lower levels, vegetation simply kills everything that remains there, says Ilușcă. Because water does not circulate, the rate of microorganism development — which actually depletes the water of oxygen  — is very high.

“I am a resident of the Delta for over 55 years, I know how the Delta was before and how it is now, something like this has never happened,”

states Ilușcă.

Flora and fauna of the Delta in danger

Daniel Ilușcă warns that the responsibility for this situation also lies with the Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (ARBDD), which did not intervene in time to keep things under control.

“It is true that there is also a lack of intervention by the Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, which is supposed to maintain both water circulation and de-silting of certain channels. You don't have to be a great engineer or hydrologist to know that if water enters from one side and does not exit, it rots, and even Grigore Antipa said that when fish quantities decrease, intervention is needed,” Ilușcă explains.

Poaching

Daniel Ilușcă warns about the high risk posed by the development of colonies of predatory birds, such as cormorants or pelicans.

“When fish die, colonies of predatory birds — pelicans, cormorants — automatically develop greatly, to the detriment of nature. There are entire perimeters both in protected areas and unprotected ones where no water circulation or renewal occurs, which has a quite serious impact, we are talking about poaching. The biggest poaching is caused by the lack of intervention by humans who should maintain the main and secondary channels in the Delta, ensuring minimal water volumes,” Ilușcă notes.

Environmental organizations and international mediators have also raised concerns about the effects of the works on the Bâstroe Canal.

Environmental organizations' warning

Greenpeace Romania criticized the interventions and called on authorities to legally investigate their legality and impact on the biodiversity of the Danube Delta.

The organization “called for a rapid, serious environmental analysis and requested a moratorium on maintenance or deepening works until environmental studies are completed, arguing that it must be clarified whether the works are legal and whether international treaties are being respected.”

WWF Central and Eastern Europe (World Wide Fund for Nature) issued a statement warning that plans for significant deepening of the canal within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve “would endanger a sensitive ecosystem protected by multiple international agreements and calls for transboundary dialogue and cooperation to find solutions that protect nature and local communities.”

These reactions reflect environmental NGOs' concerns about the potential impact on biodiversity and the functioning of the Danube Delta ecosystem as a result of maintenance and deepening works on the Bâstroe Canal.

NGOs are calling for research and cooperation measures until the ecological situation and compliance with international conventions are clarified.

Position of Romanian authorities

Representatives of the Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (ARBDD) in Tulcea acknowledge that the delta area is facing increasingly lower flows of the Danube, with extremely low water levels in channels or lakes, due to the drought period.”

“Dredging in the Ukrainian area can lead to a greater flow takeover on the Ukrainian side than on the Romanian side. This would lead to difficult freshwater supply to the delta, which would affect the ecosystems in the area,” explained ARBDD specialists.

The management of the Lower Danube Fluvial Administration (AFDJ), the institution responsible for managing the navigable channel of the river, explained that the depth of the Bâstroe Canal reported by Ukraine is 4.5 meters.

“The danger would be at 6.5 meters. We do not know if it has reached that level. The fact is that as long as the war continues, Bâstroe will be maintained with dredging by Ukraine to allow freight transport. This will also affect the delta. I don't think it’s decisive,” were the explanations received from AFDJ.

Additionally, AFDJ has started an investment program to strengthen the banks of the Sulina Canal, which should help increase the water flows reaching the Danube Delta.

A single tourist route

The President of the Association of Tourism Entrepreneurs in the Danube Delta also warns that, in the absence of securing budget resources, Romania could have accessed European funds, but this was not done either.

“You need suitable consultants, the right partners to attract these resources. It’s important to have your own equipment, dredges to maintain these channels, even lakes or certain routes, so that you can restore nature as it once was,” Ilușcă says.

Unfortunately, lately, many channels can no longer be used. Even small boats cannot enter them anymore.

Last year, for example, tourists who wanted to visit the area only had one route available: Lake Isac - Perivolovca, Litcov, and back. Everyone crowded onto this route.

The scandal

Despite Romania's opposition, Ukraine began, in 2023, works to deepen the Bâstroe Canal, which Ukrainian authorities claimed were “only for maintenance”.

In fact, the goal was to deepen the navigable channel to the Black Sea exit to allow passage of large ships, especially since grain exports were practically blocked at that time.

In February 2023, Ukraine announced reaching a depth of 6.5 meters, which increased transport potential, a move that initially caused diplomatic tensions regarding its impact on the Danube Delta.

The Ukrainians pushed the issue, the stake being grain exports, including to the EU.   

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time stated it had not received any information from Romanian authorities regarding dredging works on the Bâstroe Canal.

Moreover, the MFA  reiterated Romania's position that it does not agree with the proposal to include the Chilia and Bâstroe branches in the European TEN-T transport network.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment warned that neither Romania's nor Ukraine's legislation permits activities in that area that could endanger biodiversity.

Dispute began in 2004

Romanian officials' sensitivity regarding the Bâstroe Canal stems from the past, from the relationship between Romania and Ukraine, related to the project to transform this canal into a maritime navigation route. This would lead to the disappearance of a large part of the Danube Delta.

Ukraine began dredging works on the Bâstroe Canal in 2004. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on May 11, 2004, Ukrainian authorities initiated several hydraulic works to create, on the Chilia and Bâstroe branches of the Danube, a canal providing maritime ships an alternative access route to the Lower Danube ports.

The Ukrainian project involved significant dredging works on the Bâstroe Branch, entirely on Ukrainian territory, creating a protection dyke at the Bâstroe Canal mouth, and dredging at several critical points on the Chilia Branch, which forms the border between Romania and Ukraine.

In 2006, the project was halted following intervention by international bodies that recognized that Ukraine's works would irreparably affect the environment, namely the Danube Delta.

For example, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube found that the Ukrainian project violated international provisions regarding the protection of Danube waters, especially as a habitat for aquatic birds, and concluded that wetland protection regulations had been breached.