It is still unclear whether the Oder can fully recover after the great fish kill. However, climate change is likely to make similar catastrophes more likely in the future.
Berlin – Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke expects long-term damage to the German-Polish border river Oder, which was affected by an environmental disaster.
It is not yet possible to say whether the Oder will fully recover, said the Greens politician in an interview with the editorial network Germany. “In the Oder as an ecosystem, far greater damage was caused than the fish kill alone,” says Lemke. The first test results raised fears that there could be more serious damage.
High water temperatures a factor
“The causes have not yet been finally clarified,” said Lemke. Nevertheless, she would draw the conclusion that it was man-made water pollution – “probably in combination with the heat, which caused low water levels and high water temperatures,” said the minister.
In view of the Oder disaster, one must check whether there are also approved discharges into water bodies elsewhere that will become more dangerous in the future due to rising temperatures, explained the environment minister. “Chemical substances, salts and nutrients are permanently and legally discharged into many rivers. Common sense suggests that when water levels are low and temperatures are high, this can be a greater problem for a body of water than when water temperatures are low and more dilute.”
Scientists see a major reason for the environmental catastrophe in the high salt content in the river, combined with low water, high temperatures and a toxic species of algae.
Environmental associations: Need quick political action
Several nature conservation and environmental organizations are calling for a comprehensive rescue plan. “The dramatic loss of fish, mussels and other molluscs, both in absolute numbers and in biodiversity, as well as the unforeseeable consequences for the ecosystem of the Oder require rapid, comprehensive political action,” demanded the German Nature Conservation Ring. At a German-Polish meeting in Bad Saarow in Brandenburg, the fish kill should be the topic.
The nature conservation ring said that the Oder disaster must be used as an opportunity for revival, in which the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany would have to participate. The associations in the ring include the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), the German Environmental Aid, the Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) and the WWF Germany.
They consider an immediate stop to the expansion of the Oder planned by Poland to be necessary. The Oder must be protected and used in an environmentally friendly way. At the German-Polish environmental council, Lemke and her Polish colleague Anna Moskwa should launch an action program for the Oder on Monday.
Bathing and fishing ban in West Pomeranian
Meanwhile, the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship has extended the bathing and fishing ban that was originally imposed until August 25 due to the fish kill. The ban does not apply to the Szczecin Lagoon, head of administration Zbigniew Bogucki wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening. No dead fish were discovered there, Bogucki told the PAP news agency. There is also no ban on fishing or swimming on the German side of the Szczecin Lagoon.
The Oder flows into the lagoon, which at around 900 square kilometers is about twice the size of Lake Constance. Two thirds of it belongs to Poland. Water connections to the Baltic Sea run from there.
A dozen sports boats, which were stranded for days in the Oder-Spree Canal due to the environmental disaster, are now free to move again. Among them are the two Saxon hobby skippers who had to stop for 14 days and received a lot of support from residents and local authorities. In a special action, the waterways and shipping administration continued to smuggle the boats at the Kersdorf lock in Brandenburg on Friday. dpa
