Ukraine’s dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe

By LORI HINNANT, SAM McNEIL and ILLIA NOVIKOV
Associated Press

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine is swiftly evolving into long-term environmental catastrophe. It affects drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea. Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational. For every flooded home and farm, there are fields upon fields of newly planted grains, fruits and vegetables whose irrigation canals are drying up. Thousands of fish were left gasping on mud flats. Fledging water birds lost their nests and food sources. Countless trees and plants were drowned. Experts say it will take a decade or more to understand the ramifications. Now that the waters are beginning to recede, the decisions ahead seem enormous.