Effects of water level management on lake littorals and downstream river areas

Special Issue about the results of the Interreg "Parks Verbano Ticino" (PVT) project conceived within the technical committee dedicated to the "Experimentation of the regulation of the Lake Maggiore levels" following the requests of the water manager to raise the spring-summer maximum levels of the lake compared to the levels normally held in the same period to respond to the industrial, agricultural, touristic, and environmental needs. The PVT project and the present Special Issue of the Journal of Limnology, which collects the main results of the project itself , have thus given a concrete contribution to the definition of achievable, sustainable, and shared water management strategies, which can be ex-ported to the other lakes of the subalpine district and to other managed lakes. Only a shared and eco-sustainable management of water resources such as Lake Maggiore, the downstream River Ticino and the surrounding environments (Bolle di Magadino Nature Reserve, Fondo Toce Nature Reserve, and other natural Parks), can bring benefits to the aquatic ecosystems and to the ecosystem services they provide.