Again this year we organised an underwater cleaning action for our lake system. The action was held on May 21, 2022 in cooperation with the Club for Underwater Activities Vodomar from Duga Resa. It was attended by 22 divers and 16 employees of the Service for Protection, Maintenance, Conservation, Promotion and Utilisation of the National Park. Since we have been conducting this activity regularly for several years, the amount of collected waste was relatively small. However, a wide variety of plastic packaging, cell phones, cameras and similar electronic devices were found at the bottom of the lake and on the tufa barriers.
As part of the waste cleanup, vegetation debris accumulated on tufa barriers and lakes was removed at two locations in the lake system. These are vegetation debris bitten off by beaver that then accumulates on tufa barriers, lake shores, or on the lake bottom, preventing water flow over tufa barriers, and whose decomposition increases the concentration of organic matter and nutrients in the lakes. These phenomena can negatively impact the process of tufa formation, which is why we perform removal as an active measure to preserve our tufa barriers.
