The Danube Delta Tourism Employers' Association (APT) has called on the Tulcea Prefecture and the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority (ARBDD) to carry out emergency dredging of the Uzlina channel, saying exceptionally low Danube water levels are hampering access to some of the reserve's main tourist destinations.
APT President Daniel Ilusca told AGERPRES on Tuesday that the section requiring dredging is the main waterway for tourists travelling from Murighiol to the communities of Mila 23, Uzlina, Letea and Caraorman. He added that a dredger is already available about 10 kilometres from the site where the works are needed.
"This is about freedom of movement. If a tree fell across a national or European road, nobody would say projects are still under evaluation. We need an immediate, well-founded intervention because this channel and Lake Uzlina provide access to communities such as Mila 23, Caraorman, Uzlina and Letea. Emergency works are needed," Ilusca said.
He warned that failing to dredge the channel would also affect fish stocks.
"The lack of water circulation leads to eutrophication, with all its consequences. The damage caused by this could be comparable to that caused by poaching over the past 25 years," he said.
According to Ilusca, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority should identify mechanisms for rapid intervention in critical areas, arguing that targeted dredging of the Uzlina channel could ensure navigability for the next four to five years.
He recalled that a broader project to dredge the Uzlina channel and lake had been abandoned after environmental assessment requirements delayed its implementation, resulting in the loss of EUR 30 million in funding.
"It would have been a successful project for the Delta's communities and would have shown that the Delta is not doomed to decline but can remain a green paradise," he said.
Ilusca said that although the low Danube levels had affected the Delta, the impact had so far been less severe than expected because of the reserve's vast surface area and the stabilising influence of the Black Sea.
The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority recently announced that it had approved dredging works on the Baltenii de Jos and Periteasca channels to ensure access for local communities and fishermen during the period of low water levels.
The Uzlina channel and lake dredging project had been included in Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and was initially due for completion by the end of this year. However, it was suspended last year after the government decided to halt projects that could not be completed within the programme's deadlines. The current management of the Environment Ministry's subordinate authority has expressed its intention to revive the project.
At the end of 2020, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority announced three projects to dredge about 150 kilometres of channels in the reserve, describing them as the largest such works undertaken in more than 30 years. The plans were publicly contested by some local residents and authorities, who argued that the Delta still lacks a hydraulic modelling system capable of accurately mapping natural water flows and ensuring that dredging works do not have to be repeated after only a short period.
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