About a century ago, Brateş Lake had a water surface area of 27,000 hectares, playing a significant role in supporting the blue economy in the Romanian Lower Danube Region. However, beginning in the third decade of the 20th century, the lake underwent significant transformations, largely due to human activities, reducing its size to a heavily impacted ecosystem with only 2,120 hectares remaining.

Currently, Brateș Lake is significantly impacted by anthropogenic pollution. It has an average water depth of approximately 1-1.2 meters and suffers from nutrient enrichment, pollution from pesticides, heavy metals, and potential emerging pollutants. The lake also experiences large amounts of sediment accumulation brought in by tributaries, affecting water quality.

There is limited historical data available, and no comprehensive monitoring has been conducted in recent decades, creating a significant knowledge gap and necessitating pre-monitoring of the lake’s ecological status.

Brateş Lake offers valuable resources, including fish, wood, reeds, pastures, gardens, and hunting grounds, as well as potential for tourism and aesthetic value. It provides important ecological services, such as hydrological control of waters in the Chineja river basin, improving water quality through sedimentation and filtration, retaining nutrients from stored water, and serving as a habitat for the reproduction and growth of semi-migratory and stagnophilic fish. The lake’s ichthyofauna is diverse, comprising 46 fish species from 31 genera and 11 families.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) such as extending vegetation buffer strips with different layers and types of vegetation around the lake or in specific sections are proposed. Additionally, measures to address sediment accumulation across the lake, such as sediment barriers or natural sedimentation areas, will be implemented. The use of floating wetlands is also being considered as a potential solution.