Assessment of minimum ecological water requirements in Lake Pamvotida – Greece, using an adaptation of the IFIM method

Abstract

Human interventions and climate change in the Greek territory, so far accompanied by higher temperatures and reduced precipitations, are already exerting pressure on the water level (WL) of the lakes (Papadimos et al., 2022). The severity of the impact of the above pressures on lake ecosystems depends on the magnitude of their WL changes, the duration, the timing of their occurrence during the year and the organisms that occur in the ecosystem (Leira and Cantonati 2008). Therefore, the identification of the ecological water level requirements (EWLR) of the lakes should be considered both necessary and imperative for the conservation and protection of their ecosystems and the services they provide. A variety of methodological approaches have been used to estimate EWLR in lakes. Among them hydraulic models, combination of historical WL data and the ecological requirements at different life stages of aquatic macrophytes, the protection requirements of specific aquatic flora and fauna species sensitive to hydrological pressures etc. In this research, we have used an adaptation of the Instream Flow Incremental Method (IFIM, Bovee 1982), which has been mainly applied to streams and rivers, to assess the EWLR of Lake Pamvotida, on the basis of the requirements of its habitat types and species whose conservation depends directly or indirectly on water regime. In addition, justified management measures related to the water balance of the lake have been elaborated and proposed to support the EWLR.