View source for Lake Lugano

{{Short description|Lake in two countries;Italy and Switzerland}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Lake Langano]] in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia}}
{{Infobox body of water
 | name                 = Lake Lugano
 | other_name           = Lago di Lugano
 | native_name          = {{native name|lmo|Lagh de Lugan}}
 | image                = LagoDiLugano.jpg
 | caption              = Satellite image of Lake Lugano
 | image_bathymetry     = Lago di Lugano-Mappa.png
 | caption_bathymetry   = Map of the lake
 | location             = [[Ticino]], [[Lombardy]]
 | coords               = {{coord|45|59|N|8|58|E|type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}
 | lake_type            = 
 | inflow               = [[Vedeggio]], [[Cassarate (river)|Cassarate]], [[Cuccio]], [[Mara (torrent)|Mara]], [[Laveggio]], [[Magliasina]], [[Bolletta]], [[Scairolo]]
 | outflow              = [[Tresa]]
 | catchment            = {{convert|565.6|km2|abbr=on}}
 | basin_countries      = Switzerland, Italy
 | length               = 
 | width                = 
 | area                 = {{convert|48.7|km2|abbr=on}}
 | depth                = {{convert|134|m|abbr=on}}
 | max-depth            = {{convert|288|m|abbr=on}}
 | volume               = {{convert|6.5|km3|abbr=on}}
 | residence_time       = 8.2 years
 | shore                = 
 | elevation            = {{convert|271|m|abbr=on}}
 | islands              = 
 | cities               = [[Lugano]], [[Melide, Switzerland|Melide]], [[Campione d'Italia]], [[Ponte Tresa]]
 | sections             = North basin, South basin, Ponte Tresa
 | pushpin_map          = Canton of Ticino#Italy Lombardy#Switzerland#Italy#Alps
 | pushpin_label_position = bottom
 | pushpin_relief       = y
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 10
}}
'''Lake Lugano''' ({{langx|it|Lago di Lugano}} or {{lang|it|Ceresio}}, from {{langx|la|Ceresius lacus}}; {{langx|lmo|Lagh de Lugan}}) is a [[glacial lake]] which is situated on the border between southern [[Switzerland]] and northern [[Italy]]. The lake, named after the city of [[Lugano]], is situated between [[Lake Como]] and [[Lago Maggiore]]. It was cited for the first time by [[Gregory of Tours]] in 590 with the name ''Ceresio'',<ref name="hls-dhs-dss.ch">{{cite web|url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/i/I8661.php |work= Historic Dictionary of Switzerland |title=Lake Lugano|access-date=2008-11-23|language=it}}</ref> a name which is said to have derived from the [[Latin]] word ''cerasus'', meaning [[cherry]], and refers to the abundance of cherry trees which at one time adorned the shores of the lake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilgommone.net/scripts/risposta.asp?Mese=Ottobre+2005 |work=Il Gommone |title=Itinerari - Il Lago dei Ciliegi |language=it |access-date=2008-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506112840/http://www.ilgommone.net/scripts/risposta.asp?Mese=Ottobre+2005 |archive-date=2006-05-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The lake appears in documents in 804 under the name ''Laco Luanasco''.<ref name="hls-dhs-dss.ch"/>
[[File:Lake Lugano Switzerland.jpg|thumb|Lake Lugano]]
There are various mountains and tourist destinations on the shores of the lake including [[Monte Brè]] to the east, [[Monte San Salvatore]] west of Lugano, and [[Monte Generoso]] on the south-eastern shore. The [[World Heritage Site]] [[Monte San Giorgio]] is situated south of the lake. Also located to the south is the [[Cinque Vette Park]].

The lake is drained by the [[Tresa]], which empties into [[Lake Maggiore]], the latter being drained by the [[Ticino (river)|Ticino]] and the [[Po (river)|Po]].

==History==
The first certain testimony of a political body governing the shores of the lake is from 818. Occupying an area of strategic importance, the lake was then part of the [[feudal]] dominion of the County of Sperio. Circa 1000, it came under the control of the [[Bishop of Como]]. The region was the site of the war between Como and [[Milan]] over control of Alpine traffic from 1218 to 1227. As the lake and its shores became progressively incorporated into the [[Duchy of Milan]] they became the subject of political and territorial contention during the 15th century, and Lugano became the lake's main town.<ref name="hls-dhs-dss.ch"/>

The lake definitively ceased to belong to a single sovereign political entity following the establishment of the transalpine [[bailiwick]]s of the Swiss cantons at the beginning of the 16th century. The Italian-Swiss border was fixed in 1752 by the Treaty of Varese, and has since remained virtually unchanged.<ref name="hls-dhs-dss.ch"/>

In 1848, the [[Melide causeway]] was built on a [[moraine]] between [[Melide, Switzerland|Melide]] and [[Bissone]], in order to carry a road across the lake and provide a direct connection between Lugano and [[Chiasso]]. Today the causeway also carries the [[Gotthard railway]] and the [[A2 (Switzerland)|A2 motorway]].

==Geography==
[[File:Lake Lugano.jpg|thumb|right|Lake Lugano with the Melide causeway]]
[[File:Lake of Lugano from Porlezza.jpg|thumb|right|Porlezza, at the head of the lake in Italy]]
The lake is {{convert|48.7|km2|abbr=on}} in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy. It has an average width of roughly {{convert|1|km|abbr=on}} and a maximum width of about {{convert|3|km|abbr=on}} at the bay of Lugano. A maximum depth of {{convert|288|m|abbr=on}} is found in the northern basin. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the [[Pizzo di Gino]] summit in the [[Lugano Prealps]] ({{convert|2245|m|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}).<ref>{{cite map |publisher= [[Swisstopo]] |title= 1:25,000 topographic map |url= http://s.geo.admin.ch/be8a99d70 |access-date= 2014-07-28 }}</ref> Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lakelugano.ch/it/41/stato_di_salute_del_ceresio_.aspx |title=Stato di Salute del Ceresio |website=LakeLugano.ch |publisher=Società Navigazione Lago di Lugano |access-date=2008-11-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228042354/http://www.lakelugano.ch/it/41/stato_di_salute_del_ceresio_.aspx |archive-date=2008-12-28 }} (in Italian)</ref>

The Italian [[exclave]] of [[Campione d'Italia]] and parts of the waters of the lake are considered by European Customs Law as non-territorial for fiscal purposes and as such enjoy a special tax status as a duty-free area, exemption from [[EU VAT]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R0952&from=DE |publisher=European Union |title=European Union Customs Code REGULATION (EU) No 952/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL |language=en |access-date=2016-10-09 }} See Article 4</ref>
and offer residents other advantageous tax privileges.

The [[Melide causeway]] separates the northern ({{convert|27.5|km2|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) and southern ({{convert|21.4|km2|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) [[Drainage basin|basin]]s, although a bridge in the causeway permits water flow and navigation. The [[lake retention time]] is an average of 8.2 years; that of the northern basin (11.9 years) is considerably higher than the southern one (2.3 years).

Places on the lake in Switzerland (CH) and in Italy (I) include (from Lugano, clockwise):

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Lugano]] (CH)
*[[Cassarate]] (CH)
*[[Castagnola, Switzerland|Castagnola]] (CH)
*[[Gandria]] (CH)
*Oria, [[Valsolda]] (I)
*[[San Mamete]] (I)
*Cressogno (I)
*[[Porlezza]] (I)
*Cantine di Gandria (CH)
*[[Caprino, Switzerland|Caprino]] (CH)
*[[Campione d'Italia]] (I)
*[[Bissone]] (CH)
*[[Maroggia]] (CH)
*[[Melano]] (CH)
*[[Capolago]] (CH)
*[[Riva San Vitale]] (CH)
*[[Brusino-Arsizio]] (CH)
*[[Porto Ceresio]] (I)
*[[Brusimpiano]] (I)
*[[Lavena Ponte Tresa]] (I)
*[[Ponte Tresa]] (I/CH)
*[[Caslano]] (CH)
*[[Magliaso]] (CH)
*[[Agno, Switzerland|Agno]] (CH)
*[[Agnuzzo]] (CH)
*[[Montagnola]] (CH)
*[[Carabietta]] (CH)
*[[Figino, Switzerland|Figino]] (CH)
*[[Morcote]] (CH)
*[[Melide, Switzerland|Melide]] (CH)
*[[Paradiso, Switzerland|Paradiso]] (CH)
{{div col end}}

==Navigation==
[[File:Gandria 2012 01.jpg|thumb|right|One of SNL's passenger boats arriving at Gandria]]
The lake is navigable, and used by a considerable number of private vessels. Passenger boats of the [[Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano]] (SNL) provide services on the lake, principally for tourist purposes, but also connecting Lugano with other lakeside communities, some of which have no road access.

[[Fishery]] in the lake (and Lake Maggiore) is regulated by a 1986 agreement between Switzerland and Italy. The current agreement on [[navigation]] dates from 1992.

==Pollution==
[[Pollution]] has long been a problem in Lake Lugano. In the 1960s and 1970s it was officially forbidden to bathe in the lake.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.lakelugano.ch/de/41/lebensqualitat_des_ceresio_.aspx |title=Better quality of life on the lake - the swimming ban in the 70s |publisher= Societa Navigazione del Lago di Lugano |year= 2011 | access-date= 31 March 2011}}</ref> Despite the continued introduction of [[sewage treatment plant]]s, such as in [[Gandria]], factors, such as lake retention time and [[deoxygenation|lack of oxygen]] and increasing [[phosphorus]] concentrations, means it is unclear if the lake will recover.

The [[Federal Office for the Environment]]'s last published report on Lake Lugano dates from 1995.<ref>{{cite web|title= The condition of the lakes in Switzerland | url= https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.bafu.admin.ch/publikationen/publikation/00361/index.html?lang=de_.aspx |publisher= Swiss Federal Office for the Environment |year= 2009| access-date= 31 March 2011}}</ref> To summarise that report:
*at that time measurements indicated some improvement, but this was unlikely to continue at the same pace
*there were almost permanent polluted layers at the bottom of the very deep lake
*oxygen was scarce and could not be found below {{convert|100|m|abbr=on}} depth
*as a result phosphorus levels were increasing at this depth
*phosphorus levels in the northern basin were six times too high and in the southern basin twice too high
*will take many decades to clean
*the lake could be said to be "chronically sick"
*in the Italian part of the lake only 20% of the population were connected to sewage treatment plants with phosphorus filters (not that all Swiss areas were connected either).

The Swiss-Italian organisation CIPAIS in its most recent published report<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cipais.org/pdf/Limno_Lugano_-_Rapporto_2009.pdf |title= Ricerche sull'evoluzione del Lago di Lugano |author= Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland IST-SUPSI |publisher= [[CIPAIS]] |volume= Summary in English |year= 2009 |access-date= 31 March 2011 |archive-date= 21 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110721070226/http://www.cipais.org/pdf/Limno_Lugano_-_Rapporto_2009.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref> says:
{{Blockquote|Considering the results obtained in 2009 it can be affirmed that, notwithstanding the observed improvement, Lake Lugano is still in a state of high [[eutrophication]], the highest among Swiss lakes.}}

The Italian environmental group Legambiente, in its 2007 study of all northern Italian lakes,<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/feeling-blue-italys-lakes-have-sick-water-13462633.html |title= Italy's lakes have sick water |work= [[Belfast Telegraph]] |date= 27 July 2007| access-date= 31 March 2011}}</ref><ref>North Italy lakes are heavily polluted [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.welt.de/welt_print/article1100679/Norditaliens_Seen_sind_stark_verschmutzt.html "State of Lake Lugano"], ''Die Welt'' (translated), 3 August 2007, accessed March 31, 2011.</ref> found Lake Lugano to be the most polluted of all.
{{Blockquote|All water samples were well beyond the legal limits. The polluted sites should not be bathed in for health reasons. Bacteria can cause in the worst case, skin infections, diarrhoea and vomiting.}}

According to Legambiente, the only reason swimming was not banned on the Italian Lakes was because the [[state of Lombardy]] changed the law. They state that pollution levels in the lakes do not conform to European rulings and the lack of sewage treatment is illegal.

Their 2010 measurements<ref>[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://risorse.legambiente.it/docs/0723GolettadeiLaghiMaggiorefinale.0000001508.pdf&ei=3xSVTf_SO5DzsgbcreG_CA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsite:Legambiente.it%2Blago%2Blugano%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26prmd%3Divnsm "Monitoring data on the lakes Maggiore, Lugano, Varese"] ''Legambiente'', 2010, accessed March 31, 2011.</ref> found samples taken at [[Ponte Tresa]], [[Osteno]] and [[Porto Ceresio]] to be "heavily polluted" (more than 1,000&nbsp;UFC/100&nbsp;ml [[intestinal enterococci]] and/or greater than 2000&nbsp;UFC/100&nbsp;ml ''[[E. coli]]'').

==Fauna==
[[File:Bar Vip... gente strana.JPG|thumb|left|[[Mute swan]] in [[Porlezza]], Italy]]
The lake is full of fish. Apart from a few protected areas, such as the mouth of the [[River Cuccio]] in [[Porlezza]], fishing is allowed anywhere, although according to various regulations. Protected species are the [[Italian Bleak|bleak]] and the [[white clawed crayfish]] (''Austropotamobius pallipes''). The bleak is almost extinct here, unlike in Lago Maggiore, and planning is under way for the controlled repopulation of the lake, particularly around [[Ponte Tresa]].

In 1895 the [[brook trout]] was introduced from [[Lake Zug]], while between 1894 and 1897 the [[common whitefish]] was introduced. Since 1950 attempts have been made to introduce the whitefish ''[[Coregonus|Coregonus macrophthalmus]]'' from [[Lake Neuchâtel]], but it has not established itself effectively.

The [[common roach]] is present in large numbers and took around ten years to colonise the entire lake, thereby replacing the bleak. Still present are the [[European chub]], [[tench]], [[carp]] and a few examples of [[European perch]], [[largemouth bass]], [[zander]] and [[burbot]]. Recently the [[wels catfish]] and [[pigo]] have been spotted.

==Fossils==
The whole area behind the southern shores of Lake Lugano is rich in fossils. The focal point of these fossil deposits is [[Monte San Giorgio]], where since the 19th century many fossils have been found dating from the mid-[[Triassic]] (around 220 million years ago). The deposits on Monte San Giorgio stretch towards the west into Italian territory and the deposits of [[Besano]]. Fossils dating from the early [[Jurassic]] (around 180 million years ago) have also been found along the southern shores but more towards the east and [[Osteno]].

==Panorama==
{{Wide image|Panorama vom Monte San Salvatore aus.jpg|1500px|View of Lake Lugano from [[Monte San Salvatore]], with [[Lugano]] to the left and the [[Melide causeway]] to the right}}

==See also==
* [[Italian Lakes]]
* [[List of lakes of Italy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lake Lugano}}
*[http://www.lakelugano.ch Lake Lugano Navigation Company] {{in lang|it}}—Includes timetables
*[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.legambiente.it/ Legambiente]
*[http://www.cipais.org CIPAIS Commissione Internazionale per la Protezione delle Acque Italo-Svizzere] {{in lang|it}} limnologic reports
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Lugano, Lake of |volume= 17 |last= Coolidge |first= William Augustus Brevoort |author-link= W. A. B. Coolidge| page = 115 |short= 1}}
*{{HDS|8661}}
*[http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/rs/c0_747_225_1.html Convenzione del 2 dicembre 1992 fra la Svizzera e l'Italia per la disciplina della navigazione sul lago Maggiore e sul lago di Lugano (con R e all.)] {{in lang|it|de|fr}} agreement on navigation
*[http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/rs/c0_923_51.html Convenzione del 19 marzo 1986 tra la Confederazione Svizzera e la Repubblica Italiana per la pesca nelle acque italo-svizzere] {{in lang|it|de|fr}} agreement on shipping
*[http://www.hydrodaten.admin.ch/en/2021.html#aktuelle_daten Waterlevels at Ponte Tresa] from the Federal Office for the Environment
*[http://www.hydrodaten.admin.ch/en/2101.html#aktuelle_daten Waterlevels at Melide, Ferrera] from the Federal Office for the Environment

{{Lago di Lugano}}
{{Lakes of Switzerland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lake Lugano| ]]
[[Category:Lakes of Ticino|Lugano]]
[[Category:Lakes of Lombardy|Lugano]]
[[Category:Subalpine lakes of Italy|Lugano]]
[[Category:Waterways of Italy]]
[[Category:Province of Varese]]
[[Category:Province of Como]]
[[Category:Italy–Switzerland border]]
[[Category:International lakes of Europe|Lugano]]