Lake with blooming lotuses perishes in Khabarovsk territory

A lake with blossoming lotuses has perished in the Khabarovsk Territory (the Far Eastern federal district), deputy head of the territorial department for natural resources and environmental protection Vladimir Boltrushko has told RIA Novosti this Saturday.

The lake is located in the outskirts of Khabarovsk and has been declared a wilderness area of territorial significance.

Researcher with the Khabarovsk institute of water and biological studies Maria Kryukova called this event a disaster. "There are only 18 lakes registered in the Khabarovsk Territory where lotuses have survived. Now only 17 of them have remained."

Efforts are being taken to find out the reasons for the sudden demise of the lake of lotuses. "No doubt, the scorching heat in the outskirts of Khabarovsk this summer contributed to that; however, human economic activity is not ruled out," Boltrushko believes.

In his opinion, the lake can be revived, if water from the nearest reservoirs or the Amur River is channeled into it.

The lotus is the one of the planet's most ancient flora species. Scientists believe that it adorned the Earth back in the Cretaceous period.