It is not common for lakes to... revive from one moment to the next - this is what happened to Lake Karla in Thessaly after the catastrophic floods, displacing Lake Trichonida, located in Etoloakarnania, as the largest lake in Greece.
In particular, 'storm Daniel,' in addition to the disasters it caused, also greatly changed the area's geography.
The strange thing is that the volume of water enlarged Lake Karla, a long-suffering lake which, although once of vital importance for the area, it was decided to dry out, which changed in the early 2000s when the decision was made to regenerate it!
As the Facebook page "Geography is very cool" says, the photo from the European satellite Sentinel 3, taken on 16/9/2023, shows the maximum size of Lake Karla on September 16, surpassing Lake Trichonida.
The satellite images of the evolution of the flooded areas in Magnesia and, more specifically, Lake Karla, as recorded by the American Landsat-8 satellite, are also revealing.
The video below shows the evolution of the flooded areas in Lake Karla, from the bad weather "Daniel", which hit Thessaly with particular severity.
For the record, Lake Trichonida is distributed over the Municipalities of Thermo and Agrinio, with an area of 96.5 square kilometres.
The story of Lake Karla
Lake Karla in Larissa, which used to be called Voiveida, has a strange history since it was originally drained on purpose. The lake was located southeast of Larissa, near the northern slopes of Pelion, on the borders of the Prefectures of Larissa and Magnesia.
It was close to 1960 when it was decided to drain it as it was causing problems for agricultural crops. More specifically, with the rains, Lake Karla caused floods in the agricultural crops around it.
At the same time, some swampy areas around it caused the intense presence of insects.
In August 1962, drainage work began with a 10,150-metre-long tunnel. The drainage took a year and a half. When the process began, it was considered one of the most important projects for developing Greek agriculture, as 80,000 acres of arable land were secured for farmers.
However, the gradual decline of the underground aquifer and the loss of the lakeside flora warned of the beginning of a catastrophe. As the Karlas Management Agency (N.P.I.D. established in 2003) states on its website:
"In 1959, a study was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture to utilise the Karla Plain, with data on the construction of a 64,700-acre reservoir, tunnel and ditches in lowland waters. The lake would be used for irrigation with irrigation canals and fed with water from Pinios.
"Instead, however, a tunnel was finally built for the total drainage of the lake, which began in January 1957 and was completed in October 1962. With the drying up of the lake, the terrifying effects were seen.
"The effects were environmental as well as social:
"Precipitous drop in underground aquifers
"The intrusion of the seafront into the wider area of the Karla area
"Pollution and impact on the closed Pagasitic Gulf and the appearance of phytoplankton
"Appearance of deep cracks and destruction of buildings
"Impact on the fauna and flora of the area
"Destruction drilling and drying of sources, including the Hyperion Fountain in Velestino<
"Changes in the microclimate of the area
"Inability to supply water to cities and settlements
"Thus, at the beginning of the current millennium, the project of recreating the lake, unprecedented by European standards, was decided.
"In December 2010, the pumping of water from the Pinios River began. When fully operational, the five Pinios pumping stations will supply the lake with 14 cubic metres of water per second.
"However, in October 2013, hundreds of dead fish were found on the lake's surface. The lake was recreated in October 2018 with 80 million m2 of water and is home to 13 species of fish and 180 species of birds.
"Finally, it was regenerated through specific actions that were taken, but not to its original size, since it once reached about 190 thousand acres and its depth run about 5 metres. During the works for its revival, various archaeological findings came to light."
READ MORE: 6,011 insurance claims in storm 'Daniel' aftermath.
