Water resources in the eastern part of Maritsa River Basin are under pressure due to the huge amounts of water used in the energy sector, warns a report by Greenpeace and a team of scientists at the Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands. The continued operation of the Maritsa East complex in the future may induce serious water stress in the Maritsa River basin.

According to the report, the national energy policy is putting pressure on water resources in southern Bulgaria. Electricity generation will continue to compete with othee water users, including municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors.It will continue to have significant and potentially increasing impacts on aquatinc ecosystems as the world warms, reads the teport.