12% of Don water not fit for drinking

Almost 12% of the water samples taken in the Rostov region do not meet the standards for various parameters, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov said.

According to him, the environmental rehabilitation of the Don water basin should be included in federal programs.

"The water regime of a number of rivers in the region has been largely artificially changed. The natural flow of water is disturbed by ponds, dams and other hydraulic structures, a significant number of which are inoperative or abandoned," Interfax quotes Ustinov as saying.