__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, near the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...

. 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 Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

area, including the rivers

Cogâlnic The Cogâlnic (also Cogîlnic, Kogylnik, Kogîlnic, Kohylnyk, or Kunduk) is a 243 km river in Moldova and south-western Ukraine. The Cogâlnic rises in the hills of Nisporeni District in the Codri region west of the Moldovan capital, Chișinău ...

and Sarata, and a southern

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

area. The lagoon was separated from the sea by a 0.5 km wide sandbar.

Dam and reduced salinity

In 1978 a concrete dam was built on the sandbar and the lagoon was connected to the Danube River by a canal, through which fresh flood waters come. This has adversely changed the

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

in the lake, and this plus disturbances from recreation and commercial fishing activities have influenced the habitat for wildfowl. 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