Harmanli municipality says it began a controlled release of water from the Trakiets dam on 2 November. The flow is 5 cubic metres a second, and the municipality cites an official letter from Irrigation Systems (Napoitelni Sistemi) EAD.

Officials call this one of the lower flow rates, but they are worried about the bed of the Harmanliyska river, from the bridge to where it joins the Maritsa. The bed is overgrown with vegetation and water struggles to pass through it, so any extra load carries a real risk.

The municipality says clearing this stretch is entirely the duty of Irrigation Systems EAD.

Over the past few years, the municipality has held many talks and written to the Haskovo regional administration, the environment ministry, the river basin directorate, the agriculture ministry, the Council of Ministers and Irrigation Systems. Each time, it asked for urgent emergency work.

At a meeting last week of the interagency commission under the Haskovo regional governor, the municipality again got no concrete answer. It says its team sought clear answers, but representatives of the institutions named no real action or deadlines.

Municipal teams are on standby and are watching river levels around the clock. The municipality wants the institutions to meet their duties at once so that people are protected.

Since 2024, the stretch has been on the priority list for emergency clearing in the river-cleaning action plan. In February 2026, the municipality was told that, under Annex 1 to contract RD-50-7/18.03.2024 between the agriculture ministry and Irrigation Systems EAD, the Harmanliyska river would be cleared urgently from km 0+000 to km 3+500.