“If it dries up, the valley will disappear”: in Turkey, a mining project threatens Lake Salda

In Turkey, the drought never ceases to worry the inhabitants. In 50 years, more than half of the country’s lakes have dried up and it is the turn of Lake Salda in the province of Burdur, one of the deepest in the country, to be in danger. A mining project draws its water needs from the lake and threatens its sustainability.

So, the inhabitants of the region are mobilizing. From the heights of a hill, Osmane, a climate activist, observes Lake Salda through binoculars. Its banks have turned grey, cracked by the lack of water. “Exploiting this mine is a serious mistake. The water has started to drop in the lake, but also in the dams used for the irrigation of our agriculture or in the water reservoirs that we drink”, explains- he at the microphone of Europe 1.

A precious ecosystem

At the edge of the lake, a couple of nomads graze their sheep. They are worried about the effects of the Salda disappearance on their community: “The water that we give to our animals and that we drink comes from the sources of this lake. If it dries up, the valley will disappear and all our traditions with her”, alarmed the farmer.

According to Ghazi Osmane, of the Salda Preservation Association, the situation is alarming. The shores of the lake have already receded 100 meters in three years. “This is a lake over 2 billion years old. NASA is studying it for the resemblance of these minerals to the planet Mars. It is home to species of fish that exist nowhere else,” he notes. -il, emphasizing the importance of preserving it.

A bad agricultural policy?

So, will this Turkish gem be the next to disappear? Drought does not explain everything in Türkiye. In 50 years, nearly 60% of Turkey’s lakes have dried up, largely due to poor agricultural policy. “On my farm, sometimes there are water cuts for three hours! And yet, we continue to grow corn, which is very water-intensive”, explains a resident of the region. According to the UN, almost 70% of agricultural land suffers from drought in Turkey.