South Ossetia earlier claimed that Georgian villagers on South Ossetian territory have been diverting water from South Ossetian pipes to water their crops. The water crisis erupted after a heat wave struck the region in May, causing levels to drop dramatically.
"Since May 24, 2007, [Georgia] is continuing a water blockade of Tskhinvali," said Boris Chochiyev, South Ossetia's co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission (JCC).
The JCC, comprising Georgia, the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russia and its North Caucasus Republic of North Ossetia, was formed to find a solution to the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict.
"South Ossetia has been forced to apply appropriate measures in response to Georgia's actions, leaving all responsibility [for the crisis] on the Georgian leadership," Chochiyev said in a letter sent to other JCC co-chairmen.
Tskhinvali continues to insist that Georgian police and military denied S. Ossetian experts access to damaged sections of the Edis-Tskhinvali water pipeline, threatening to open fire on repair workers.
"There is no water supply to the [Tskhinvali] city despite Georgia's announcement that the pipeline has been repaired," the S. Ossetian official said.
South Ossetia, which declared its independence from Georgia following a bloody conflict that left hundreds dead in 1991-1992, is a sensitive issue in bilateral relations between Georgia and Russia.
Georgian authorities are seeking to bring it back under their control, and have accused Russia, which has peacekeepers in the area, along with Georgian and South Ossetian troops, of encouraging separatist elements.
Highly-anticipated new round of talks on the settlement of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, scheduled for August 9-10, has been postponed until late September due to fears that the security of South Ossetian leaders during the talks could be compromised.
