After a six-month standstill, the Gjavato hydro system is working again and Lake Dojran is being refilled. Around 200 litres of water per second are currently flowing into the lake, and the volume is expected to rise in the coming hours.

The hydro system says water was released on Saturday, after which the entire system was checked. The pipeline had been empty for six months, so it took around 20 hours just to fill it. „There are no water losses along the way, the Paljurci dam is full, and the valve used to top up the reservoir has been repaired, so the system is now working normally,” they report.

Good news. With one number that puts it in perspective.

145.26 against 146.13

According to the latest data from the Hydrometeorological Administration, the level of Lake Dojran currently stands at 145.26 metres above sea level. The agreed minimum threshold is 146.13 metres. The lake is below the minimum - and that is the state of things heading into August and September, the months that are traditionally the most critical because of high temperatures, heavy evaporation and a lack of rainfall.

Which is precisely why the Gjavato system was built - to top the lake up when natural inflow isn't enough. The biggest crisis came more than two decades ago, when the water retreated hundreds of metres from the shore and the lake was literally starting to disappear. The system is the answer to that trauma.

Six months of downtime, right before the summer

This is the part that deserves more attention than the news itself. The system that exists precisely to intervene when the lake is in danger did not work for six months. Those six months end at the doorstep of the hottest part of the year, with the level below the agreed minimum.

Lake Dojran is not just a postcard. Thousands of people live off tourism, fishing and hospitality here, and every drop in the level hits the local economy directly. The lake has specific natural conditions that make it one of the rarest natural assets in the country.

The pumps are running. The water is flowing. The battle, as they say in Dojran, is not over - and it won't be as long as maintaining the system is treated as something that can wait six months.