On Saturday 19th of November, together with volunteers we have started working on tidying up the Čiliž brook. The brook flows nearby a landfill in Veľký Meder. The landfill had been closed for quite some time, however, the access was closed only recently. The junkyard has been unattended ever since and some residents have kept bringing waste. The area is not fenced and the accumulated waste falls into the nearby brook. The garbage consists mainly of tires, concrete blocks, plastic pots and different municipal waste.
More than 30 volunteers from the region as well as our colleagues took part in the event. The determination of the participants was stronger than the November weather and they overcame even wading in the cold water. During seven hours we cleaned the area of 200 m2. The waste was carried out of the brook bed vicinity. Subsequently it will be removed by municipal services of Veľký Meder and recycled if possible. We are confident that the waste will not be filling out again and the brook will be fully serving to the nature again. The event was financially supported by Pontis foundation.
History of the Čiliž brook
Čiliž brook is a remnant of a Danube side arm that used to have an extensive inland delta. The arm diverted near Čilistov (town district of Šamorín) and continued through Danubian Lowland to the commune Číčov where it was reunited with the Danube. Since 17th century the brook has been shortened due to flood prevention measures, straightening of the Danube and drainage of Danubian Lowland. In 20th century water of the Čiliž brook was redirected to drainage channels. Due to those water management measures almost two thirds of the 33.5 km brook length had been dry until recently. Within the LIFE project Microtus most of the brook was restored. Nowadays we are working on restoration of an outlet of the Čiliž brook and creating a wetland (expected area 30 ha) as a by-product. BROZ (Regional Association for Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development) has initiated the project of Čiliž brook restoration as a part of recreation of wetlands important for local organisms by construction and reconstruction of water management objects.
