Cleaning the Suvača pond

Cleaning the Suvača pond
The professional staff of the Public Institute of Krka National Park, in cooperation with the firm Hrvatske Vode/Croatian Water Management, and the local community, cleaned a pond in the Koštani settlement.

Popularly called Suvača, this year-round pond was once used to water livestock, and it also played an important social and cultural role. The population kept the pond in optimal condition by bringing in livestock to drink. The accumulated sludge, rich in nutrients, was regularly removed and used as a fertiliser in vegetable gardens.

Due to the depopulation of the inhabitants and the cessation of livestock farming, as well as the impact of climate change, the pond gradually became overgrown, and woody vegetation covered the dry-stone walls in the immediate vicinity. The sedimentation of the silt reduced the water level, the invasive plant species of paspalum spread around the pond, and the surface was completely covered with duckweed, which further accelerated the overgrown state.

In the first phase of cleaning, the woody vegetation was removed and the area around the puddle was mowed, and the invasive paspalum grass was removed. In the second phase, the excess sludge was carefully removed and disposed of, and the duckweed was removed from the surface of the pond.

Since there are no longer livestock farmers in the vicinity, through the joint efforts of the Krka National Park and the local community, the pond will continue to be maintained through regular mowing. The cleaning carried out will certainly increase the biodiversity of the habitat, and we hope that the pond will once again become an important social point for the residents of Koštani.