CEH conducts multi-disciplinary research that provides process-based understanding on how lakes function. Our results help with the planning, assessment and implementation of whole-lake restoration programmes within the UK and beyond. Having worked in this area for several decades, we now have a number of long-term datasets that can provide important information on pressure-response-recovery chains in impacted systems. By synthesising this knowledge into decision support tools, we help water managers across the world make evidence-based decisions on how to design and implement lake restoration programmes.

Monitoring of sentinel lake ecosystems

CEH has been monitoring sentinel lake ecosystems across the UK for many years. The data collected are extensive and provide invaluable insights into how and why lakes respond to environmental change.

Click here for more information on these unique data records.

Restoring impacted systems

CEH’s knowledge of how lake ecosystems respond to environmental change is routinely used to assess international, national, regional and site-specific lake management requirements. This knowledge has been incorporated into a range of decision support tools that can help lake managers diagnose water quality problems effectively and develop suitable restoration strategies.

Click here for more information on our lake restoration decision support tools.

UK lakes case studies

CEH has been involved in lake restoration studies at a number of sites within the UK. These include:

• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Clatto Reservoir
• Coldingham Loch
• Loch Flemington
• Haweswater
• Kinghorn Loch
• Loch Leven
• Linlithgow Loch
• Loweswater
• Windermere

Datasets

Our long-term monitoring data can be accessed through the CEH Information Gateway.

Facilities

CEH's Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is used by our Lake Ecosystems group to carry out experimental work.

Publications

Details of our recent publications and reports on this topic can be viewed in the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA). For easier searching, view a list of publications dating from 2010 [pdf].

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