For as long as I can remember I was being told that the lake in my mother’s hometown Burdur, Turkey, is shrinking. That it is disappearing. Every time I visited someone casually throw it into the conversation. Many were complaining about the destruction, and simultaneously about the complacency and inaction to save the lake.

Burdur Lake is a large saltine lake of tectonic origin, located between Burdur and Isparta provinces in southwestern Turkey. It is fed by rainfall, seasonal and continuous streams, and groundwaters. The lake is among the largest and deepest lakes in Turkey. The average depth today is 40m with its deepest point at around 68m. The maximum surface area is 130km² at 854m elevation. Its water is salty and highly alkaline (pH 9.5). It never freezes. Lake Burdur has been a Ramsar site since 1993 and Wildlife Reserve since 1994.
Albeit, excessive irrigation, unlicensed wells, and mining activities, but also the increasing climate crisis have brought the lake to the point of drying out.

In Burdur the lake gives life to agriculture, fruit growing, customs, folk songs, fairy tales, in short, to every element that makes human life possible and rich. So when it started to shrink drastically and the broader population became aware of it thanks to the dawn of the internet over two decades ago, it became the poster child for the human destruction of nature and climate change in Turkey. To raise awareness and demand action to save the lake, stars lined up and national campaigns like “Göl Yoksa Burdur'da Yok” (no lake, no Burdur) were born.

Making evaluations about the shrinkage of Burdur Lake in recent history, limnologist Dr. Erol Kesici said, “The water level in Burdur Lake has decreased by about 40 percent [in the last 35 years].” Satellite photos of Google Earth show the brutal loss.

The rapid shrinkage is mainly caused by human intervention. “From the beginning of the 1970s, 19 artificial constructions, including 17 ponds, a reservoir, and a dam, have prevented the lake from being fed [by streams]. In addition, the withdrawal of groundwater from a large number of legal and illegal wells in the basin caused the water level and surface area in the lake to decrease gradually.” Burdur mayor Ali Orkun Ercengiz says that the most important water source of Burdur Lake is the Bozçay stream. While Bozçay is expected to carry 169 hm³ of water to the lake annually, the reality is that it only feeds the lake with17 hm³ of water. Dams and ponds built on the Bozçay and mismanaged agricultural irrigation in the region consume most of the stream’s water. On top of that cue in the Climate Crisis. The streams, and subsequently the dams and ponds, regularly dry out due to a lack of precipitation. In Burdur and its surrounding provinces, where residents and industries depend on water reserves, reservoirs were at record lows. Veysel Eroğlu, Chairman of the Parliamentary Global Climate Change Research Commission, said in July 2021, “This year has been very dry. In many places, the streams dried up.[…]”.

Stating that the surface area of ​​the lake has decreased from 203km² to 130km² (a 10-m water-level drop in the last 30 years), Dr. Kesici specifically draws attention to the significant habitat loss to the nearly 300 thousand waterfowl that call Burdur Lake and its surroundings their home. 194 different bird species, 10 reptile species, and various fish either live here full-time or winter at the lake. Prominent examples are the endangered Burdur toothcarp, Aphanius burduricus, and the vulnerable fish species Arctodiaptomus burduricus, both of which are endemic and can only be found in Burdur Lake. Among many birds, the worldwide endangered white-headed duck population chose to winter at this lake. Its global population size is estimated at 7900 to 13000 individuals and, in some years, up to 68 percent of world’s White-headed Ducks winter now in other lakes of Western Turkey. Burdur Lake, once a key wintering ground of the species does no longer hosts excessive numbers most probably due to increased salinity of the lake and habitat loss. “The salinity content rate has increased by 40 percent since 1980. And in the next 10 years, a further 30 percent will be added to this rate and the salinity content rate will surpass that of sea waters. The variety of birds will decrease, their population will be affected, and ecological richness will be destroyed,” said Prof. Dr. Iskender Gülle of the Burdur MAKÜ Faculty of Arts and Sciences Biology Department. Evaporation increases the salinity of lakes if it’s not continually counterbalanced by processes that decrease salinity such as the continuous input of freshwater from streams, precipitation of rain and snow.

Lakes not only enrich the landscape visually but also increase the humidity of the region; they affect rainfall and temperature. The moist environment they create ensures the continuity of vegetation. Thus, lakes not only support biological richness but also animal husbandry and agricultural production. If Burdur Lake dries up, the climate will change in the lake basin. Humidity will decrease, rainfall becomes irregular, night temperatures will decrease, and frost begins to be seen more frequently. The change of climate will harm agriculture and fruit cultivation. The increase in moisture loss also means that more water is used to irrigate the area. This increases irrigation costs which then increases production costs, which adversely affects agriculture and livestock.

At least two-thirds of Burdur's human population is engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. With the lake drying up, yield losses in agriculture and animal husbandry and higher production costs will trigger migration from villages to the city and beyond.

“THE SHORES TURNED INTO DUST DESERTS".

Another pressing issue is wind erosion from the deserted lake bed. According to Prof. Dr. Gülle approximately 2000 tons of dust per year are aerated and scattered from the lake bed. With the erosion, various toxic metals, pesticide residues, microplastics, and salts, that accumulated on the lake floor, mixed in the silt and clay, are now elevated with the winds as a result of the withdrawal of the lake water, and primarily threatens the nearest settlements in Burdur, Senir, Kılıç, and Keçiborlu. Prof. Dr. Gülle likewise blames the excessive use of water in the region for the shrinking and fears a vicious circle as people will use more water to clean the dust in an already water-deprived area. He urgently suggests rehabilitating the deserted areas with salt-tolerant crops and forbidding animal grazing to allow plant growth and soil healing.

Rethinking and Reeducation.

“The ministries are aware of everything. But the solution is now very difficult because you are not able to cut the water supply of citizens, who got used to abundant water supplies, running the risk of social reactions,” Gülle said. Local industry practices and residents depend on abundant water reserves. In order to save water the industry practices, like agriculture patterns and diversity in particular, need to change, without leaving the farmers astray. An extensive re-education has to happen. Some farmers already switched to pomegranate, Dimrit grapes, juniper, and silverberry trees, which do not require a lot of water but a lot of direct sunlight. Initiatives to grow aromatic herbs and plants like lavender and thyme were started. These herbs are more environmentally friendly and economically profitable - especially the lavender fields are the Instagram-savvy traveler’s dream and easy to market in the tourism sector. The project “Lisinia Doğa”, a farm that showcases different irrigations and agriculture patterns, started to act as a model case for farmers in the area since its opening in 2005.

Drip irrigation instead of flood irrigation.

For many years activists, advocates, and local mayors speak up for the use of drip irrigation, which minimizes water loss, reduces costs, and achieves irrigation labor and energy savings. The education and initial financing of this water-saving irrigation are crucial.

Drip irrigation is the method of giving the water little by little and frequently to the root zone of the plants through specifically, industrially produced drip irrigation pipes. This type of irrigation ensures equal irrigation of every plant.

“We have prepared an action plan.”

Eroğlu said in July 2021: “We have prepared an action plan. This action plan consists of seven packages. […] One part of the action plan requires turning irrigation systems into a closed system, that is, a rain drip system. We have turned all of the pond waters into a closed system. Thus, we saved a significant amount of water.”

According to Prof. Dr. Gülle and other scientists, the present drop in the lake water level is mainly attributed to human activity rather than to climate change. About10% of the decrease in water levels at Lake Burdur is caused by “natural reasons” such as the increase in temperatures. Therefore advocates and local governments focus on reducing the human effect, like spreading the water-saving irrigation systems to all irrigated agricultural areas, but also emphasize the importance of ensuring the open passage of streams that feed the lake, to allow stream waters actually reach the lake. Determining groundwater reserves and regulating and controlling the wells should be additional crucial undertakings.

On the other hand instead the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) – under Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ministry - stated that natural evaporation is the most common cause of water loss. To stop the water loss, four pools with lake water were installed by the lake to test different methods on how to avoid evaporation. One of these pools was infused with minerals, and one other with chemical balls. At another solar panels were placed atop. The fourth pool was filled with lake water and left as it is as a comparison point. It turned out that evaporation is prevented by 10% in the pool with chemical minerals, 50% in the pool with chemical balls, and up to 67% in the pool where the solar panels are placed. In mid-September 2021 it was announced that it is in fact planned to cover parts of the lake with solar panels in the coming years, to avoid evaporation and to produce solar energy at the same time. The test pools were removed last month after that decision. Furthermore, Eroğlu assured that “initiatives to bring spring water from other provinces continue to be investigated.” Knowing that discarded wastewater is another major problem for the lake, he assured that the wastewater of Burdur will be purified and transferred to Burdur Lake. “The wastewater of the sugar factory is purified. Wastewater of industrial establishments is purified. In addition, when the Advanced Biological Treatment Plant is built, we will give the treated water from there to Burdur Lake," he said.

The government’s promise is: “Burdur Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in Turkey. We love Burdur. […] It is possible to stop [the shrinkage], it is not a difficult thing. We promise that.”

Only time will tell if the undertakings will be successful. And that time is short.