LWE pilot project in Serbia aspires to preserve lake ecosystem
By Nathan Johnson
Serbia's Lake Celije is a shallow body of water connected to the Rasina River, which lies within the Danube River Basin. The lake is the result of a dam built [when] to prevent flooding and reduce the downstream transport of sediment. Since the dam's construction, Lake Celije has provided drinking water for the city of Krusevac and Resina municipality. Pollution pressures and nutrient loads from the Rasina River call for efforts to prevent further degradations drinking-water quality and to establish Lake Celije as a sustainable ecosystem capable of providing this essential service to local residents.
'Cleaning up Lake Celije from Nutrients and Sediments' is one of four pilot demonstration projects jointly implemented by the Living Water Exchange (LWE) and UNDP/GEF to promote nutrient reduction best practices in Central and Eastern Europe. The lead organisation for the project was the Ecological Centre of Krusevac, which enjoyed a wide rage of support from various NGOs and academic groups and other interested stakeholders. The one-year project was concluded in October 2010 and operated with a budget of USD 53,776, which included a grant of USD 19,342 from the LWE.
The aims of the Lake Celije project were primarily fourfold: first, to create a biological filter at the river in-flow to the lake by channelling the flow through reed beds to retain nutrients and sediments; second, to plant trees in the Rasina River catchment area (10,000 three-year-old fir saplings) and around Lake Celije (200 birch trees) to act as a buffer zone; third, to conduct a local educational and awareness-raising campaign; and, fourth, to involve local media in promotional and lobbying activities to stimulate public interest and involvement.
Spadework
Initial work on digging the 50m channel connecting the Rasina River and reed beds was slowed by heavy rains resulting in high waters. Inclement conditions also delayed the planting of trees close to the lake. A third obstacle to getting the project into full swing was the presence of itinerant farmers in the area planned for the creation of a buffer area.
Persistence in the face of difficulties won out in the end, however, and the canal was dug to an eventual depth of roughly 2 metres. The project team and local volunteers also planted the 10,000 fir sapling in the Kapaonik Mountains over a 14-day period. The total afforested area in the upland and buffer areas was 10.8 hectares.
The Lake Celije project had built-in baseline targets to meet within the one-year implementation period. One goal was to increase the area of aquatic plants within the project area from 4 hectares to 5.7 hectares. Another was to decrease the delta area under eutrophication from 4 hectares to 2.8 hectares. Finally, the project aimed to reduce nutrient loads at the Zlatari Basin: sodium by 0.119 mg/lit, phosphorous by 0.0166 mg/lit, and organic matter by 4.44 mg/lit.
The fact that volunteers helped with tree-planting efforts and construction of a biological filter contributed a great deal in terms of local awareness-raising about the project. Workshops, training sessions, public lectures and TV and radio spot were also part of an ongoing publicity campaign to boost awareness of nutrient-related problems and solutions that the project addressed.
Sustainable outcomes
Having met its immediate and short-term goals, the project team has been able to ensure continued monitoring of the project area by securing adequate funding and bilateral support, courtesy of the Dutch Embassy, for staff resources, boats and other vehicles required for such work. This successful approach will hopefully be replicated in other parts of Serbia, and thus lead to meeting nutrient-reduction requirements under the Danube River Protection Convention.
The project team believes that the Lake Celije area can be maintained simply and at low cost with adequate assistance from the local population. A peer-to-peer exchange was held on October 7, 2010 to discuss how best to achieve such a result, and a number of suggestions and observations were made.
Reed beds basically serve a two-fold purpose where this project is concerned: they trap sediments containing phosphorous, while the plants themselves take up nitrogen. However, the reeds must be harvested at certain intervals, as their eventual decomposition will re-release the polluting nutrients into the water basin, thus defeating the original purpose. On the other hand, timely removal of the reeds further reduces nutrient pollution.
After removal, the reeds may be used either as a building material (such as roofing) or as a renewable fuel source. Further research into this latter use is needed, but other wetlands projects (in Bulgaria, for example) have helped to convert harvested reeds into fuel briquettes.
Maintenance and monitoring are also vital for long-term sustainability. On-site monitoring must take place to keep track of the site's capacity for nutrient removal, and this task goes hand in hand with regular channel maintenance and clearance to prevent sediment blockage of water flow.
If so-called 'illegal' farmers continue to grow crops in the project area, local authorities should work to assist this segment of the population to make the land more productive and to introduce agricultural methods that are more environmentally friendly.
