The revitalization project
The Palic and the Ludas lakes are located in the northern part of Vojvodina near the town Subotica. Both lakes are Panonic shallow lakes of eolian origin and connected through the Palic-Ludas Canal. The Palic Lake drains practically in the Ludas Lake, this in turn into the Kires, which flows into the river Tisa. In terms of quantity and quality, both lakes have been subject to great natural fluctuations over the last decades and centuries. Today, the water level is artificially regulated and maintained inversely to the natural water level oscillation.
As the population of the city of Subotica (today about 150,000) has greatly increased over the past decades, but also increased the anthropogenic influence on the water quality of Palic and Ludas lake. The city of Subotica lets a large part of their treated sewage into the Palic lake. From the village of Palic (about 7,700 inhabitants), most of the domestic sewage still come untreated in Palic and Ludas Lake. Due to this strong anthropogenic influence, both lakes have been classified as poly- or hypertrophic waters for decades, including all negative side-effects such as massive algae growth, blue-green algae blooms, repeated fish death, odor nuisance, etc..
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Already, between 1971 and 1975, the Palić Lake was drained in a major clean-up operation and the sediment accumulated over the years was removed with heavy equipment from the lake bed. In addition, a first wastewater treatment plant for Subotica was built and the lake was divided into four sectors. But since then failed to implement decisive measures in the catchment area of the lake consistently, the water quality problems could not be permanently removed and today you are back where the work was started.
In the past few decades, The Public Health Instituiton of Subotica advised many times against swimming in the Palic lake. Strong algal blooms in the spring and summer hinder the further development of tourism of the lake and environment. In addition, natural biodiversity is out of balance. Thus, e.g. today 96% of the fish biomass in the Palić lake on a single species of fish, the silver carousels (Carassius gibelio). The last time, in May 2009, a big fish loss shocked the public:
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The potential as a tourist destination with tradition
In contrast, the Palic lake has a well-known name beyond the country's borders and a tradition of more than 160 years as a tourist destination. The Great Park was established as early as 1840, and Palic is known throughout the country for its historic Secession buildings. The lake and its Art Nouveau-style historical environment are the most popular tourist destinations in Vojvodina, and one of the top five tourist destinations in Serbia in terms of development potential. In addition, Lake Ludas is one of the Ramsar wetlands of international importance since 1977 and is a refugium for many plant and animal species listed on the Red Lists (IPA and IBA). The Ludas lake and parts of the surrounding area are designated by the State of Serbia on a total area of 800 ha as a 1st category Special nature reserve.
In addition, parts of the wetland and steppe fragments on the eastern shore are recognized as priority habitats of the Bern Convention (15 A, 34.9, 37.3, 38.25) and the EU Habitat Directive (6410) and the Special nature reserve Ludas lake and Natur park Palic are part of the Emerald Network.
In order to preserve the historic building culture, the renovation of the historic women's beach, the Grand Terrace and the Great Park, which was built over 100 years ago, began. In addition, measures are planned to improve the quality of the lake water in a sustainable and long-term way.
The problems with the water quality
The biggest challenge both on and in Palić as well as in Lake Ludaš is the poor water quality of the lakes. For decades, both lakes must be classified as polytropic waters. The most financially demanding river basin rehabilitation and sustainable water quality improvement has already been achieved with the financial support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In May 2009, the new sewage treatment plant Subotica was put into operation. It is considered to be the most modern in Serbia today and a significant decline in nutrient concentrations in both seas is already measurable. The city of Subotica or the local politicians have recognized this huge potential as a tourist destination with tradition and started tackling the problem of poor water quality. In July 2014, Palić Lake's treatment strategy, developed in collaboration with many local experts, has been recognized by the City Council as the city's official strategy for improving the ecological status of Lake Palić and its surroundings.
A similar strategy for Lake Ludaš is under development. The long-term impact is job creation in the tourism sector, preservation of cultural heritage, conservation and biodiversity conservation.
The long-term goals
Further efforts are needed to improve the water quality of Palić and Ludaš See in the long term and sustainably. Together with a team of local experts, a strategy has been developed to achieve this goal. The most important steps in the roadmap to a successful therapy of the polytrophic patients Palic and Luda Lake are the following:
1. Measures to increase the efficiency of the treatment plant and adapt it to stricter limit values
2. Expansion of the sewage system in the villages on the lakes and connection of this network with the sewage treatment plant
3. Establishment of a protective belt to reduce diffuse nutrient inputs from agriculture
4. Biomanipulation - Enhance zooplankton and increase biodiversity by fishing for silver caroustes and predatory fish
