Drought concerns finally over in Manyas

The water volume of Lake Manyas is up to around 300 million cubic meters after the spring rains, according to officials with the State Waterworks Authority, or DSI. In 2007, when Turkey was hit by a serious drought, its volume dropped to 92 million cubic meters. Where usually some 200 types of birds would stop over in the area on their summer migratory routes, that year the number decreased to 27.

According to DSI officials, the region has reclaimed its old vitality; the Manyas Dam provides important insurance for maintaining this situation, they say. Construction on the dam began in 1994 and it became operational on March 17, 2008. Officials said the dam is at its full capacity this year, and that they could flood the 404-million-cubic-meter-capacity lake any time its water levels drop below desired conditions. Since the DSI has the power to directly intervene in the water level of the lake, drought problems are unlikely to happen again, officials said.

German professor Curt Kosswig and his wife, Leonore, discovered the 64-hectare Lake Manyas and Manyas Bird Paradise in 1939. The cabinet declared the area a national park in 1959. Every year, two million to three million birds visit Lake Manyas, which is also home to more than 20 kinds of fish, as well as rare species like crayfish and tree frogs.