More than 30 lakes have dried up in the last 50 years in Turkey. While many point to global warming as the cause, some experts have recently argued that these lakes have disappeared due to improper irrigation. According to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), some lakes in the Mediterranean region have also started to dry up as a result of improper irrigation.Yücel Sönmez, communication coordinator of the Turkish Nature Society, says the cause of a number wetlands drying up in Turkey is faulty irrigation. Stating that natural factors have almost no effect in drying up Lake Tuz, Beyşehir Lake, Hotamış and Ereğli and the Kayseri Sultan Sazlığı wetlands, which are located in the Konya basin and are among Turkey's most important wetlands, he said some of these wetlands have almost disappeared and some face the risk of disappearing.
Noting that agricultural products that require an abundance of water are produced in this region, he says farmers use groundwater by digging wells because surface water does not suffice. “Water resources could not reach the lakes because the water is being kept in dams and the because of the wasteful use of water arising from primitive irrigation methods. Since groundwater, which is another source feeding lakes, was drawn up with wells, wetlands like Ereğli, Hotamış, Yarma, Eşmekaya and even Lake Tuz area drying up one by one. There is improper irrigation here.”
WWF Turkey General Director Filiz Demirayak also notes that irrigation policies in Turkey should be changed before the situation worsens. Noting that more dams constructed for irrigation purposes in order to meet increasing water demand consume water resources, she says Turkey will lose many of its wetlands unless rational water usage is encouraged in the country.
Benzer Haberler 
National
