Lake Koronia, considered one of largest in Greece, is shrinking after a protracted drought and a summer season of record-breaking temperatures, abandoning cracked earth, lifeless fish and a persistent stench.
The place as soon as fishermen pulled trout and tench into their boats, youths on motorbikes now joyride within the mud.
Locals say they will see the 42-square-kilometre (16-square-mile) expanse of water close to Thessaloniki retreating day-to-day — a destiny shared by three different vital pure lakes in Greece’s Central Macedonian breadbasket.
“The stench from the lake is getting very bad. If we don’t get enough snow and rain, the problem will get worse next year,” stated area people chief Kostas Hadzivoulgaridis.
“We need (officials) to take immediate action to protect the lake,” the 50-year-old instructed AFP.
Water ranges at three different pure lakes within the area — Doirani, Volvi and Pikrolimni — are additionally at their lowest in a decade, in response to information final month from the Greek Biotope Wetland Centre.
During the last two years, rainfall within the area has been “very low” and the temperatures recorded this yr had been the very best within the final decade, in response to Irini Varsami, an area hydrologist.
In addition to shedding water immediately via evaporation, the lake is being drained by the “increasing irrigation needs of (farmers in) the surrounding area”, one of many vital food-producing plains within the nation.
‘We hope for rain’
Whereas the shores appear to be a lunar panorama bereft of life, flocks of migratory pink flamingos graze within the low water additional in.
Anthi Vafiadou, a regional supervisor for the Greek state environmental safety company, stated it was “too early” to attract conclusions on the impression of the drought on the lake’s biodiversity.
“We must see how the winter season evolves. We hope there will be more rain,” she instructed AFP.
However what is for certain, in response to the Biotope Wetland Centre, is that local weather change is placing enormous strain on the lakes.
Based on the nationwide observatory, Greece had the warmest winter and summer season on file since dependable information assortment started in 1960.
Greece’s surroundings ministry this week unveiled a multi-billion-euro plan to spice up the water provide and restrict rampant water loss via poor administration.
‘Completely disappeared’
Lower than an hour’s drive to the north is a bleak imaginative and prescient of what the longer term would possibly maintain.
Pikrolimni, or “Bitter Lake”, is the one salt lake in mainland Greece.
However Pikrolimni is a lake in identify solely now. All that continues to be are the patterns shaped by the water that evaporated throughout the extended drought.
Accommodations and a mud spa round its edge lie deserted.
“This is the first summer that the lake has been in such a state. There has been no rain, the water has completely disappeared and the lake has literally dried up,” stated Argyris Vergis, an 80-year-old native.
“This area used to be busy with tourists, but now you can see motorcyclists racing on the lake on the internet. It’s tragic,” the retired financial institution employee stated.
