Northern Greece’s Lakes and Rivers Face Risk of Ecological Breakdown
June Samaras
http://www.balkantravellers.com/read/article/268s
7 January | Academic research showed that almost all the major lakes
and rivers in northern Greece are polluted with human and agricultural
waste and risk an ecological breakdown, despite EU requirements.
Most of the lakes in Northern Greece suffer from illegal farming
practiced and untreated waste, according to recently announced
findings by the biology, geology and civil engineering departments of
the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Despite Greece's obligation
to abide by the 2000 EU Water Framework directive, requiring it to
have all its water bodies in "good" status by 2015, most of the lakes
and rivers in the northern part of the country are far from it.
The Koroneia, Kastoria, Zazaris, Petron, Vistonida and Kirkini lakes
were labelled "bad," while the condition of others, such as Dipotamou,
Mikri Prespa, Volvi, Verogitida, Doirani and, depending on levels of
rainfall, Polyfytou was recorded as "moderate to poor." Only the
Thisavrou reservoir in Drama was seen as coming close to achieving a
"good" status.
"For at least 20 years, untreated sewage has been dumped in this
shallow lake [Koroneia], and farmers have illegally used it for
irrigation," assistant professor of biology, Maria Moustaka, told
Athens News. "It is almost unbelievable, but authorities have still
not even started monitoring this lake."
Simply put, waste and agricultural runoff cause a decrease in oxygen
and an increase in the pH levels of the water, which in turn lead to
the extinction of zooplankton species, causing a domino effect across
the food web.
Rivers in Northern Greece don't fare any better, according to the
scientific findings. "The rivers [of Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly]
are suffering many problems, among them physical chemicals from human
activities, changing habitat from farmers taking their fields right up
to river banks and not leaving a vegetative corridor and sand
extraction for use in construction," biology professor Maria Lazaridou
told Athens news, adding that, "The result is the risk of an
ecological breakdown."
The Aliakmon, Axios, Strymon, Aggitis, Nestos and Pinios rivers – the
most important in Greece according to Lazaridou, are also problematic.
While their mountainous stretches are classified as good, their middle
parts are moderate and the lowland ones are moderate to poor.
"The problem is simply one of not abiding by laws," Lazaridou told
Greek media. "Other European countries have had enormous problems with
their rivers, such as England with the River Thames, but they have
taken action. We continue to pollute."
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June Samaras
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