Discrepancies in legal classifications as a hindrance to implementing water policy, on the example of Lake Wysokie

This article deals with the difficulties that arise at the intersection of three areas: the application of law, the need to ensure water environment sustainability, and the need to take into account social interest. The reason behind such a situation is the imprecise lake classification criteria adopted in Polish law. The legal division of lakes has an artificial character and reflects the Polish water management policy, according to which every lake is classified as stagnant or flowing water. This study aims to determine the hydrological type of Lake Wysokie and its legal status, in order to allow proper application of water policy. The methodology included, among others: field hydrological investigations, geodetic measurements, calculation of evaporation and study of historical cartographic documentation. According to the research results, all the features of the lake and its catchment area clearly indicate the standing nature of the waters.

Kolme kertomusta järviemme tilasta

Finland is officially marketed as a land of a thousand clean lakes, but people’s concerns on negative trends is common. We used questionnaires and interviews to gather information on people’s experiences on how lakes have been changed, and compared the experiences with limnological research results and administrative lake classifications. Both human observations and limnological evidence detected negative changes in lake ecosystem quality during the past 30-50 years, whereas the administrative lake classification considered lakes to be mainly in good/excellent quality. In addition, small lakes with severe ecosystem changes reported by people, were seldom covered by classification. People’s observations and limnological measurements revealed independent and identical information on the trends in water quality, whereas much of the official lake classification is based on inadequate data and lack of observations on lake littoral areas. Thus, we suggest that people’s everyday experiences should be collected and analyzed more systematically in lake quality assessment processes.