Greece looks set to be taken to the European Court of Justice as a result.
Lake Koroneia is part of the Natura 2000 network, Europe's network of protected natural
areas. It lies in the Mygdonian basin in the Langada province, also knows as Agios Vasileios. It is a few km east of downtown Thessaloniki, sandwiched by the Egnatia motorway in the north and the old motorway to the south.
The EC has said that Greece is failing to protect the lake under several key directives – the habitats and birds directives, the urban waste water treatment directive, and discharges into water of dangerous substances, the report said.
Although a comprehensive plan has been in place to rehabilitate the lake for years, with many actions partly financed by EU funds, progress has been slow and insufficient. As a consequence, Lake Koroneia has suffered from extensive illegal water abstraction for irrigation, which has drastically reduced the water level where several hundred families once earned a living from fishing, the report said.
Fishing and bathing in the lake are no longer possible, as the waters are seriously polluted by discharges of nutrients, heavy metals and other pollutants from industries and towns in the surrounding area.
