| 22/12/2005
- December 9th 2005 - The reconnection of the Katlabuh liman
with the Danube river has started today in the Ukrainian
Danube Delta. This is the second project site of WWF Netherlands
and WWF DCP in the delta and the contract for its implementation
was signed with the local Odessa Water Management Board.
The main goal of the project
is to restore the natural hydrological regime by reconnecting
the Katlabuh Lake to the Danube River through the old
river channel.
Not so long ago, when Katlabuh was
still connected to Danube, the natural water exchange
washed away salts and recharged the wetland with fresh
water. The lake itself was a spawning site for fish and
served as a source of food, drinking water and irrigation
for local communities. In the 60s, the construction of
a dam, with a major road linking large settlements, separated
the river from the wetlands and the lakes. Under these
conditions, the only possible way to fill the lake with
fresh water was through low capacity canals. Another problem
was that the dam blocked the natural way for wild fish
spawning, and the lake was stocked artificially with exotic
fish species. The lake also became further isolated from
the Danube by a complex of fishponds.
During the years of isolation, salinity
level increased and water quality declined to the extent
that it became unusable for drinking and irrigation.
This project is the first experience
of a joint funding for wetland restoration in Ukraine,
matching international funds with governmental funds (52%
coming from the Regional Development Programme for Ukrainian
Danube Delta).
The Katlabuh project is part of the
effort to support the change from technocratic management
to a management and economic development based on the
sustainable use of the natural system in the Danube Delta. |
