Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia’s most beautiful swan lake dried up
SocietyUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Lake Ganga, the precious inset of the steppe of Dariganga, has been dried up, without leaving a pond to host a swan this autumn. The lake, covers only 4 square kilometers of area used to be a home to endangered species of birds, such as whooper swans and white-naped cranes. Each fall, Lake Ganga welcomed a thousand swans, which made an extraordinary attraction for national and international tourists.
Out of the 21 springs that fed the lake, only two survived. It was known to the public that the water level of the lake has been going down. Nevertheless, “the locals did not pay enough attention to this problem”, criticize some sources of media.
It is an enourmous load for such a small lake to act as a drinking water source for 180-200 thousand heads of livestock. The reason of lake’s evaporation was mainly the reduction of variety of unique plants and bushes, which supported the very stream of the springs that fed Lake Ganga.
Adding fuel to the fire, this summer’s average temperature has exceeded the multi-year average, and the rainfall could not reach 20% of the multi-year records.
Moreover, the surrounding small lakes – Kholboo, Zuun Kholboo, Tsagaan, Ulaan Toirom, Erdene, Sumt and Khoshmog – have been dried up, and the herdsmen brought their animals to Lake Ganga out of water shortage.
The Ministry of the Environment and Tourism has made decision to commence an urgent research on the underground water reserve of the area and study the possibilities of cloud seeding.
The local environmental conservation department has made several, but unfortunate attempts to retain the lake’s water level by accumulating snow water and collecting waterweed.
