Lake Koronia, one of Greece’s largest lakes, is shrinking after a long drought and a summer of record temperatures, leaving behind cracked ground, dead fish and a persistent stench.
Where fishermen once hauled trout and tench into their boats, young people now enjoy riding motorcycles through the dust.
Locals say they are seeing a 42-square-kilometer (16-square-mile) area of water near Thessaloniki receding by the day — a fate shared by three other important natural lakes in Greece’s Central Macedonia breadbasket.
“The stench from the lake has become very bad. If we don’t get enough snow and rain, the problem will get worse next year,” said community leader Kostas Hadzivoulgaridis.
“We need (officials) to take immediate action to protect the lake,” the 50-year-old told AFP.
Water levels in three other natural lakes in the area — Doirani, Volvi and Picrolimni — have also reached their lowest levels in a decade, according to data last month from the Hellenic Wetlands Centre.
Over the past two years, rainfall in the area has been “very low” and temperatures recorded this year were the highest in the past decade, according to Irene Varsami, a local hydrologist.
In addition to direct water loss through evaporation, the lake is being depleted by “increasing irrigation needs (of farmers) in the surrounding area,” and is one of the country’s important food-producing plains.
“We hope for rain”
While the beaches look like a lifeless moonscape, flocks of migrating pink flamingos feed in the lower waters deep below.
It is “too early” to draw conclusions about the impact of the drought on the lake’s biodiversity, said Anthe Vafiadou, regional supervisor for the Greek state environmental protection agency.
“We have to wait and see how the winter season will develop. We hope there will be more rain,” she told AFP.
But what is certain, according to the Biotope Wetlands Center, is that climate change is putting enormous pressure on lakes.
According to the National Observatory, Greece experienced its warmest winter and summer on record since reliable data collection began in 1960.
Greece’s environment ministry this week unveiled a multi-billion euro plan to boost water supplies and reduce water loss due to mismanagement.
“completely disappeared”
Less than an hour’s drive north is a bleak vision of what the future may hold.
Picrolimni, or “Bitter Lake”, is the only salt lake on the Greek mainland.
But Lake Picrolimni is now only a lake in name. All that remains are the patterns formed by the water that evaporated during the prolonged drought.
Mud hotels and resorts lie abandoned around its edge.
“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,” said 80-year-old local resident Argyris Verges.
“This area used to be crowded with tourists, but now you can watch motorcyclists racing on the lake on the internet. It’s tragic,” said the retired bank employee.
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