Mediterranean lakes: lessons learned from the “new” lake Karla, Greece

1. Mediterranean lakes: lessons learned from the “new” lake Karla, Greece IfigeniaKagalou Prof. School of Engineering Democritus University of Thrace ikagkalo@civil.duth.gr

2. The Mediterranean • Mediterranean climate, with dry sub-tropical summers, dominates regions from 32 to 40 latitude, north and south of the Equator. • In Mediterranean regions there is a segregation of two well-separated seasons, a wet winter, during which most of the precipitation is concentrated, and an arid summer with no precipitation (Naselli-Flores & Barone, 2005)

4. pressures • Mediterranean regions are concentrated centres of both human populations ( very earliest settlements!!!) and agricultural production • Competition for water is among the highest in the world (Gasith & Resh,1999) • Greater demand coincides with low availability • Unpredictable annual precipitation and limited water availability during the dry season have resulted in extensive water infrastructure development, which complicate efforts to restore and manage freshwater ecosystems

5. The Mediterraneans, It is well documented the contrast between the Mediterranean and other temperate limnosystems, taking into account climatic variability , water scarcity, nutrients , demography, e.t.c. The ‘limnicity’ is quite uneven in Europe ( in Sweden=9%, in Greece 0.5%) more sensitive in Meds in terms of eutrophication, accommodating various uses.

6. Mediterraneans, problems arisen, • There has been a growing ”concern” of “non-effective” management practices • Focused, mainly, on the issue that restoration depends on a variety of factors particularly on climate , last years “acts horizontally” • Finally ,there has been a social and politic resistance concerning water allocation under the light of protection and conservation purposes. • In Greece, institutional capacity often is inadequate to develop and apply integrated management plans.

7. …, Concern on the so-called “ignore of the local people participation” and the lack of the traditional knowledge. • Finally, there has been an opposition for applying “good management practices” with consequences to the ecosystem’s preservation

8. The value of freshwaters, • Freshwaters offer diversity from small ponds and springs to large lakes and huge floodplain systems. • In this collection, there is a great species diversity and also interesting relationships amongst them and with the local people. • Managing of the whole system means efforts in technical, political, legislative and ethical issues.

9. The protected areas • Freshwater P.A. are widely perceived as “magic bullets’ against overexploitation, pollution… • The main strategy (EU) for their conservation is the appropriate management to maintain essential ecological processes. • This approach should incorporate the sympathetic actions of the local people

10. Hydrology: does it affect all functions? Low water levels may enhance submerged plant biomass and coverage in SMLs (Romo et al., 2004; Fernández-Aláez et al., 2004 ….) • Concentrations of the major ions and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) vary with water levels (Talling, 2001; Nöges et al., 2003) • increase of eutrophication during drought periods in the Mediterranean region (Quintana et al., 1998; Kagalou et al.,2010) • Drought-induced decrease in water level and increase in water residence time may provide longer contact with sediment that may enhance internal release of nutrients, such as phosphorus (Romo et al., 2005) • Favorcyanobacteria over other algal taxa ( toxicity risk!!)

11. …, • Increase of salinity • drop in water level may cause deterioration of spawning grounds, and change spawning behaviour and migration patterns of fish • Dominance of cyprinids • Vulnerability of other species • Top-down control???? Effective???

12. What happens to Greek lakes??? (Kagalou & Leonardos 2009)

14. Driver Pressure State Response Impact

16. Global warming reinforces eutrophication Moss et al. 2012

18. Macrophytes?? A limiting factor for photosynthesis • Greek lakes shift from the macrophyte dominance state to the algal dominance state since in many lakes macrophyte coverage is limited (Papastergiadou et al.,2010) • Two lakes in Category3 ( visible plants) • Three lakes in Category2 ( sparse plants) • All the other in Category1 ( no plants)

19. The study area – the restored lake Karla Surface area… 38km2 Volume max….184x106 m3 Catchment area…1171km2 Z max…. 4.5 m Z mean…..2.0 m Mean annual air temperature….14.3oC Mean annual precipitation…….560 mm In 1962, complete drying of the lake ( 40-180 km2) took place. In 1980’s the restoration project started up Total budget : 245 millions Euros

22. overview of annual Hydrological budget evaporation 38 x 106m3 Surface runoff 38 x 106m3 Inflow ditch 16,5x106m3 Inflow from Pinios 67,5x 106m3 Irrigation withdrawals 60x106m3 Lake Karla Recharge of aquifier 24x106m3

23. Overview of the ecological features & pressures NATURA 2000 site RAMSAR site Special Protected Area ( birds Directive) Algal blooms (cyanotoxicity) Fish mortalities Inflows predominately drain an agricultural watershed but also rural/industrial areas. With a nutrient rich sediment But still a preferable bird’s habitat

25. Regarding at Karla, • Eutrophication seems to be a multistressor effect problem • Shallow lake/reservoir systems show a high variability and the cause- effect relationship is not so clear. • The “new” artificial lake Karla is a modified ecosystem ( in terms of typology, WFD) with no outlet ( acting as a sink of nutrients!!!) • Since there are not yet pristine/reference conditions the ecological classification becomes more difficult

26. Sinivetikaõitsengud LakeAdmin in Volos

27. evaluation… • Taking into account the WFD guidelines, OECD suggestions, literature data on similar case studies and our knowledge, it is quite safe to classify the water status as “poor” or “bad” • The possibility to obtain a “good” ecological status up to 2015, is extremely weak.

28. …, • Both nutrients (N,P) are in excess so, who is thelimiting factor for algal biomass?? • A strong reduction of the external load should be done. • The improvement of light conditions , shift to clear phase. • Lake Karla showed a spatial homogeneity while seasonal trends can be explained , mostly, by the inputs (also Kagalou & Laspidou 2012) • But, up to day, the black box is the “story of sediment” ( i.e internal loading). • Survival of the most tolerant species thus destruction of the microhabitats

29. Taking into account that… • In freshwater ecosystems the medium rather the organisms determine their structure • The food-chain places emphasis on the system functioning • The unit of a freshwater system is not defined by its wetter perimeter

30. What we need? • Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) “is a process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”

31. Our conservation planning approaches • Should be concentrated on the system as a whole, i.e • Catchment management • Restoration of the water regime in the floodplain • Elimination of the point and non-point pollution sources • Internal loading ( sediment) • Conservation of microhabitats and patches • Including the conservation of biodiversity rather than of particular charismatic species • Through functional approach may be we’ll achieve species conservation

32. Conservation through cultural identity • Highlight the value of biodiversity through • - traditional activities • Traditional food related to the Lake’s goods • Establishment of “sign of product origin” of the PP. • Enhancement of ecotourism attracting not the “massive tourism” but the special target groups. • Promotion of the cultural identity of the PP. • Support the ethics of the local community

33. Urgent !!! INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT – GOVERNANCE For the sustainability of the new lake Community participation (Aarhus Convention)

34. ACTIONS FOCUSED ON technical issues Ethics ( !!!!!!!) Legislative issues

35. The role of local people/stakeholders • Local communities have important, long-standing relationships with the area • These relationships embrace culture identity, contributing to the maintenance of biological diversity • On the other hand, intensified human activities and life- style cause degradation and loss of values. • In any-case their needs, aspirations and attitudes should be considered in a management process.

36. Do we have the tool??? • The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims at establishing “a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwaters”, (Dir. 2000/60/EC, art.1) for all European Member States. • The WFD adopts a holistic approach for water protection and management, to be implemented in a 15-year long process which foresees many actions including: • the development of a River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) in each European River Basin District (RBD) • Competent authorities need to integrate environmental, social and economic analyses and involve interested parties in the formulation of strategies

37. Up till now, • Experiences show that the management of stakeholders’ involvement is still poorly organised and supported, and so is the selection of the stakeholders to take part in the process. • there is a strong need for scientific and technical support for the meaningful involvement of stakeholders in planning and implementation through participation management.

38. lessons learned at technical level • Water Management at catchment scale : a key issue • Multiple stressors at Meds freshwater • No- linear respond to management practices • Should consider ecosystem flow requirements, patterns of human demands, spatial and temporal variation of water availability. • Be careful to flow diversions, dam operations, interbasin transfers ( !!!!! Thessaly)

39. lessons at capacity building Possible strategies: • strengthen the role of trained professionals acting as facilitators in the participatory planning process • promote an extended campaign of expertise enabling policy makers to meaningful undertake participatory planning ( • increase research efforts on developing tools and methods for the use of mediators (i.e. consultants), who would then provide external support to decision makers there is a strong need for scientific and technical support for the meaningful involvement of stakeholders in planning and implementation.

40. and “what is good governance”?? • Accountability : ability to hold decision-makers to account for their actions • Transparency: availability of information to the public and clarity in regulations and decisions. • Participation: provide all the opportunity in decision- making either directly or through legitimate representatives. • Prerequisite: social learning i.e learn together manage together!

41. Thank you