Water Levels at Lake Srebarna Maintained Despite Critically Low Danube Levels

Water levels at Lake Srebarna, within the nature reserve of the same name, are being maintained despite the critically low level of the River Danube. The Ministry of Environment and Water announced that water is currently being channelled from the Western Canal into the 'Draganovata Lokva' water body and from there into the lake's central basin.

The ministry said state institutions and the local authorities are working in full co-ordination. With the assistance of two high-capacity pumping units provided by the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Civil Protection, more than one million cubic metres of water have so far been transferred into the reserve.

Following the declaration of a state of emergency, work continues to deepen a branch of the Danube leading towards Lake Srebarna.

Water levels continue to fall in the channel linking Devnya Island, which forms part of the reserve, with the riverbank. This is hampering efforts to pump water into the lake, as the pumps are drawing in sand and have to be shut down periodically. Excavators are digging channels through the sand to allow water to reach the side branch. The two high-density polyethylene pipeline systems installed last year by the Ruse Water Supply and Sewerage Company have been further extended by staff from the Silistra water utility so that they reach closer to the pumps' intake heads, the Ministry of Environment and Water said.

At present, large numbers of swans, geese, herons, terns, glossy ibises and Dalmatian pelicans can be seen on the waters of Lake Srebarna and along the Danube riverbank, as their post-breeding dispersal period has begun.

The water transfer operation is providing the lake ecosystem with a vital supply of fresh water from the Danube while also bringing in large quantities of newly hatched fish, an essential food source for the reserve's waterbirds. Fieldwork continues.