Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Water use · Turkey · 2017–2026

Factories draw about 3.9 million cubic metres a year from Sapanca Lake

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Istiklal reported that factories drawing water from Sapanca Lake in Sakarya are charged six times the normal tariff. A Bursa news site reported in 2025 that the lake is at a critical level and that protective work would follow.

What?
Factories drawing water from Sapanca Lake in Sakarya are allocated about 3.9 million cubic metres a year and charged six times the normal tariff, Istiklal reported. Istiklal
Where?
Sapanca Lake, Sakarya province, Turkey Istiklal
When?
Rent reported in 2017; annual draw reported in September 2025; bottled-water prices reported in 2026. Istiklal
Who?
Gained
  • Factories drawing water from Sapanca Lake (not named in the sources reviewed) — Water at a rent of about 0.5 kuruş per litre, reported for 2017 Borsanın Gündemi
Lost
  • Sapanca Lake — A 2025 Bursa Hakimiyet headline described it as at a critical level and announced protective work Bursa Hakimiyet
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Factories draw water from the lake area. The companies say they use wells, and experts say those wells also draw lake-feeding groundwater. Istiklal
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Istiklal reported on 4 September 2025 that factories draw about 3.9 million cubic metres a year from Sapanca Lake, equal to Sakarya's 20-day consumption.

Istiklal also reported that the firms are charged six times the normal tariff, and that the companies say they draw from wells while experts say those wells also draw groundwater that feeds the lake.

Borsanın Gündemi reported in 2017 that the rent for Sapanca lake water was about 0.5 kuruş per litre.

Dünya reported in 2026 that the cheapest bottled water sold for about 13.90 lira per litre.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not name the firms drawing water from Sapanca Lake.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a bottled-water allocation of 4 million cubic metres a year at Sapanca, and a mayor's view that illegal extraction is close to that level. No link is given.
    • None on record The sources reviewed give no lake level measurements or trend.
    • None on record The Court of Accounts found that springs were allocated without tender and that rent was collected at a very low level, at İSKİ. The sources reviewed do not link that finding to Sapanca.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Groundwater
    Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
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