Plants and reeds have sprouted up as the waters of Little Prespa Lake on the Albanian-Greek border recede, their beauty overshadowing a painful truth: the lake is slowly dying.
The once crystal-clear lake has mostly been transformed into a marshy watering hole in this corner of southeastern Albania. “A few years ago, this was a lake with pure water. Fishing was our life. But today we have nothing left. The lake is dead,” said Enver Llomi, 68, local resident .
Abandoned boats are now stuck in the mud or rot in the sun on dry land. Cows have replaced the fish, and wander around without venturing too close to the retreating water.
The majority of Little Prespa Lake, also known as Small Lake Prespa, sits in Greek territory, with just its southern tip crossing into Albania. It is a smaller cousin of the larger Great Prespa Lake to the north. According to experts, of the 450 hectares of Little Prespa Lake in Albania, at least 430 hectares have been transformed into swamps or dried up. For the inhabitants, the beginning of the misfortune dates back to the 1970s, when communist authorities diverted the Devoll River to irrigate fields around the nearby Albanian city of Korca.
Climate change has exacerbated the problem, experts said. Rising temperatures and increasingly mild winters with little snowfall and a scarcity of precipitation have battered the lake. “If this year the winter is dry it will be even worse. And if next summer it is also hot and dry — everything would be over,” said local park ranger Astrit Kodra.
Published – October 03, 2024 07:56 am IST
