Drought in Greece: Lakes Koronia and Doirani send out SOS (video)

Lakes in northern Greece are sending out an SOS as their water levels fall dangerously due to a prolonged drought. Koronia and Doirani, home to rare species of fish, birds and flora, are seeing their waters “disappear” and the natural refuge for fauna and flora is turning into a swamp.

Instead of a lake – a swamp

Dozens of dead fish are floating in the water and dead birds are being found on the shores of Lake Koronia in northern Greece, turning it into a swamp. Locals and environmentalists fear the lake will dry up by next month.

The photos of Lake Koronia, located near Thessaloniki, are simply heartbreaking.

Giorgos Minakis has lived his entire life in the village of Agios Vasileios, located next to the lake. Since 1960 In an interview with the state television company ERT Minakis recalled that he has been able to fish on the lake since 1960.

Over the years he has watched the lake develop and change, but now he fears it is “at its worst” as the waters have turned green from stagnation, the lake has become a swamp and there are a lot of dead fish in the water.
Long-term drought and high temperatures have dried up most of the lakes in Central Macedonia. These factors have also contributed to the development of increased amounts of phytoplankton (algae blooms) in a particular lake.

Several projects have been implemented in previous years to save Lake Koronia, efforts have been made to stop illegal irrigation and drilling, but residents say this is no longer enough due to climate change. According to Kostas Chatziboulgarides, president of the Agios Vassilios community, even the flamingos that have found shelter in the area “testify” to the fact that the water level in the lake has dropped dangerously.

If the drought continues, residents are confident that the lake will dry up completely by September.

At the same time, the water level in the reservoir at the deepest point of the lake dropped significantly below one meter.
A serious environmental problem will take on even more dramatic proportions in the near future.

Ecological disaster

According to the website greenagenda.grwho deals with environmental issues and was the first to raise the issue of the ecological disaster on Lake Koronia, the water depth in some parts of the lake dropped below one meter.

The catastrophe is most dramatically depicted in the pictures published by Greenagenda.gr. The scale of the problem is expected to increase in the coming weeks. “Unfortunately, the situation is developing alarmingly,” the staff of the Department for the Management of Protected Areas of Central Macedonia told the site.
Let us recall that the mass death of fish in this lake is not unprecedented. In September 2019, as it turned out Greenagenda.grpublishing shocking photos: thousands of fish, crayfish, butterflies, breams and sunfish lay dead on its bottom. And the water level during this time dropped sharply – from three meters to only 80 centimeters.

The depth does not reach even a meter.

At the same time, the water level at the deepest point of the lake has dropped significantly below one meter. This fact is confirmed by observations of the famous flamingos on the lake, which these days manage to walk on the water and search for food in the deepest parts of the lake.

In fact, the western part of the lake has already dried up.

Lake Doirani
Lake Koronia is not the only one sounding the alarm. Lake Doirani, located on the northern border of Greece with North Macedonia and a refuge for fish and various rare bird species, is currently presenting a heartbreaking picture and sending out an SOS. Due to the prolonged drought and the lack of snow in the winter months, and in recent winters there was no snow at all, the water has overflowed its banks by about 30-40 meters.

According to the report ERTthe lake has lost 1.5 meters in depth in a year. Such a phenomenon has not been recorded in the last 15-20 years. Speaking on the air of the ERT TV channel, Dimitris Emmanouloudis, professor of mountain water management at the Democritus University, said that Doirani is considered a shallow lake, as a result of which, even if its level drops by 2 meters, half of it empties. He noted that Doirani suffered from a lack of snow, reduced rainfall and excessive pumping of water for irrigation of agricultural crops.

Emmanuloudis stressed that water transportation and distribution networks, which suffer losses of 45-55 percent, need to be repaired, as water losses are also due to the fact that the networks are old and poorly maintained. He added that the internationally accepted water loss limits are 20 percent.

In June 2024 ERTnews.gr showed two shocking photographs: Lake Doirani in North Macedonia (left) and in Greece (right).

No matter how much water shortages are reported, lakes, rivers, streams, fountains and other water sources are drying up, no matter how many farmers and ranchers cry out for help to local, regional and central governments, it seems they don't care, and they make plans, but like the 2024 version of Rhett Butler, they say: “Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.”

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