Once vibrant, now desolate: Drought ravages Greece’s lakes, leaving a lifeless landscape

Where fishermen once pulled trout and tench into boats, youths on motorcycles now ride in the dust.

Locals say they can see the 42-square-kilometer (16-square-mile) stretch of water near Thessaloniki receding by the day — a fate shared by three other major natural lakes in Greece’s Central Macedonian breadbasket.

“The stench from the lake is getting really bad. If we don’t get enough snow and rain, the problem will get worse next year,” said local community leader Kostas Hadzivoulgaridis.

“They (officials) must take immediate measures to protect the lake,” the 50-year-old told AFP.

Water levels at three other natural lakes in the region – Doirani, Volvi and Pikrolimni – are also at their lowest level in ten years, according to data from the Greek Biotope Center last month.

In the past two years, rainfall in the region has been “very low” and the temperatures recorded this year were the highest in a decade, according to Irini Varsami, a local hydrologist.

In addition to direct water loss through evaporation, the lake is drained by the “increasing irrigation needs of (surrounding) farmers,” one of the country’s major food-producing plains.

“we hope it rains”

While the shores look like a lifeless moonscape, flocks of migrating pink flamingos graze in the shallow waters beyond.

Anthi Vafiadou, a regional supervisor at Greece’s state Environmental Protection Agency, said it was “too early” to draw conclusions about the drought’s impact on the lake’s biodiversity.

“We have to see how the winter season develops. We hope there will be more rain,” she told AFP.

But what is certain, according to the Biotope Wetland Centre, is that climate change is putting enormous pressure on the lakes.

According to the national observatory, Greece had its warmest winter and summer on record since reliable data collection began in 1960.

Greece’s environment ministry this week unveiled a multibillion-euro plan to boost water supplies and limit water losses through mismanagement.

“Completely gone”

Less than an hour’s drive north is a bleak vision of what the future might hold.

Pikrolimni, or “Bitter Lake”, is the only salt lake in mainland Greece.

But Pikrolimni is a lake with a name only now. All that remains are the patterns formed by the water that evaporated during the prolonged drought.

Hotels and a mud spa around its edge lie abandoned.

“This is the first summer the lake has been in such a state. It didn’t rain, the water disappeared completely, and the lake literally dried up,” said Argyris Vergis, an 80-year-old local resident.

“This area used to be full of tourists, but now you can see bikers racing across the lake on the internet. It’s tragic,” said the retired bank employee.