__NOTOC__ Sasyk, or Kunduk ( uk, Сасик, Кундук – transcribed as previous, ro, Limanul Sasic, Conduc, tr, Sasık Gölü, Kunduk Gölü), is a lagoon or liman in southern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, near the Danube Delta. It is a Ramsar listed wetland site important for migrating, breeding and moulting birds. About 25,000 pairs of wetland birds make their nests there and seasonal conglomerations of birds are up to 100,000 individuals. The area of the lagoon is 215 km², and the depth up to 3.3 m. Until 1978 the lagoon was separated into two parts: northern brackishwater area, including the rivers Cogâlnic and

Sarata Sarata (Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and ; ) is an urban-type settlement in Odesa Oblast (region) of south-western Ukraine. It is a part of the Bessarabian historic district of Budjak. Population: History Ottoman Period The Sarata river valley and ...

, and a southern marine area. The lagoon was separated from the sea by a 0.5 km wide

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

Dam and reduced salinity

In 1978 a concrete dam was built on the sandbar and the lagoon was connected to the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

by a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, through which fresh flood waters come. This has adversely changed the salinity in the lake, and this plus disturbances from recreation and commercial fishing activities have influenced the

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

for

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...

. The aim of this Soviet dam project was to convert the lagoon to a fresh water lake to use for irrigation. However, this failed and the use of water from Sasyk resulted in the salinization of about of land, with associated detrimental impact on crops, and mineralization of ground water and wells. The project ended in ecological, social and economic disaster. A 2007 report stated that the lagoon had become too dangerous for swimming because of pollution, including pesticides and heavy metals. The water is described as greenish with an unpleasant smell. Many now favour breaking the dam and reconnecting the lagoon with the sea. In 2022, Ukrainian-American filmmaker Andrea Odezynska's documentary film "Return Sasyk To The Sea" was released, detailing the history of the region and efforts to restore the damaged wetlands.

Notes and references

Saline lakes of Europe Lagoons of Ukraine Estuaries of the Black Sea Estuaries of Ukraine Ramsar sites in Ukraine Landforms of Odesa Oblast {{Odessa-geo-stub