2024-04-28 01:07:03
The plain of Thesprotia is under the threat of flooding, with the volume of water being such that measures should be taken to avoid situations similar to those in Thessaly.
The problem is well-known, as, due to heavy rainfall, the plain of Thesprotia floods every year, as a result of which thousands of acres of agricultural lands are submerged in water, mainly in the villages of Brussels, Kyparisso and other settlements located along the Kalamas river.
The muddy waters “suffocate” clover crops, orange and lemon trees, from which the farmers often have not had time to harvest the fruit, while often damage is also recorded to rural houses and livestock units.
As a strong warning, what is stated in the report for the first half of operation of the network of automatic water monitoring stations of the Epirus-waters project, implemented by the Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters (I.THA.VI.P.E. Y.) and is financed by the Green Fund.
With the completion of six months of operation, the scientific team proceeded with an evaluation of their information and services for each of the rivers Kalama, Louros and Arachtos.
As far as Kalamas is concerned, the records of an increase in the water level are a point of concern. Quite high water levels were observed in Vrysoula, reaching a water depth of 2 m in November 2023 and January 2024, while the “Kalamas 1” station, located near the settlement of Vrysella, operated from November 2023 until January 2024, due to damage suffered by an extreme rise in the water level, of the order of 7 meters deep, at the site of the station. This report clearly should not go unnoticed.
The good news is that Kalama’s water pollution problems seem to be a thing of the past. Both the station in Vrontismene and the one in Vrysoula recorded values, which indicate a good and high quality situation throughout the semester.
As far as the Louro and Arachthos rivers are concerned, there are no data to cause concern, neither in terms of the risk of flooding, nor in terms of water quality degradation.
As far as Louros is concerned, at the “Mesoura” station the water level did not rise significantly in the last six months (it remained at levels less than 1 m deep), at the intermediate station “Kerasona” there were two rain events, which increased the level at a depth of approximately 1.5 m in November 2023 and January 2024, but these values are not considered dangerous for flooding events in this area, while at the “Louros 1” station, located near the mouth of the river, were recorded very small fluctuations of the water level in the specific period. During the period November 2023-January 2024, water quality degradation was observed at two stations.
Regarding the monitoring stations on the Arachtos River, those at the Balduma Bridge and the Tzari Bridge indicated two events of a large rise in the water level at depths of more than 2 m, but without any risk of flooding, while the water quality ranged from relatively good levels over the period when all sensors were operational, with the exception of a few values that showed transient quality degradation in November 2023 and February 2024.
Significant fluctuations, on an almost daily basis, due to the operation of the Pournario dam, were shown by the other two stations, downstream of the Pournario dam and in the settlement of Neohori, near the mouth of the river. The fluctuations were relatively small in depth (less than 2 m), which does not indicate a risk of flooding.
Finally, in February 2024, a new station was installed at the Lock of the Voidomatis river, while within the month of April, the ELKETHE project team will go to the area to restore the existing faults of the automatic stations, as well as to install new stations in the Kalamas rivers and Arachto.