Specific Regional Challenges

Significantly declining lake levels are observed at several locations in northeastern Germany during the last decades and commonly are related to the ongoing climate change. In the public discussion often even catastrophic scenarios are evoked, pointing to a dangerous aridification of the region. However, the controlling mechanisms for lake level fluctuations and related processes are yet poorly understood. In addition to climatic influences, man has increasingly impacted on the regional hydrology since medieval times, most probably in response to both climate change and societal development. Reorganisations of the regional water budget include damming as well as large-scale drainage.