Bathing waters
Bathing waters are lakes, rivers and coasts that are used for public bathing and swimming . Bathing waters and their banks, which are mostly developed for tourism, are used for local recreation and leisure activities such as sports , games and sunbathing . The minimum requirements for the quality of bathing water and its management are defined for the member states of the European Union in Directive 2006/7 / EC (Bathing Water Directive) . In the 2015 bathing season, there were 2,292 bathing waters in Germany that were monitored in accordance with the EU Bathing Water Directive. Of these, 367 were on the coast of the North and Baltic Seas, 1,925 in inland waters (1,893 on lakes; 32 on rivers).
use
A bathing lake offers citizens the opportunity to relax and do sports close to where they live. A bathing lake can thus significantly increase the attractiveness of a residential area. Tourist marketing with tents and campsites, hotels and guest houses is also widespread in the vicinity of bathing lakes.
In the interests of bathers and swimmers, many bathing lakes have bans on ships and boats , fishing rods , dogs , etc. For reasons of nature conservation , lighting fires and the use of soaps and shampoos are usually prohibited. In contrast to non-European countries (e.g. India ), bathing in lakes in Europe is no longer used to cleanse the body, but only to relax and maintain social contacts.
The use of most of the bathing lakes is free of charge. Larger bathing lakes have institutions to increase the safety of bathers, for example in Germany stations of the DLRG or water rescue service . In contrast to paid outdoor pools , most bathing lakes have neither changing rooms nor toilets . At better-developed bathing lakes, however, there are restaurants with toilets, which compensates for this hygienic deficiency compared to outdoor pools.
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At some bathing lakes, especially in Germany, nudism is allowed or tolerated. Often only specially designated bank areas are provided for this.
Risks
Due to currents, shallows and plants, bodies of water carry an increased risk of swimming accidents . Bathing in polluted waters can encourage infections caused by pathogens and cyanobacteria ( blue-green algae ), which can lead to diarrhea or eye and ear infections, among other things .
Legal classification
A distinction must be made between officially designated bathing waters, which in the European Union must comply with the requirements of Directive 2006/7 / EC (Bathing Water Directive) and are to be monitored by the authorities, and "unofficial" bathing waters that are not monitored in accordance with the EU Bathing Water Directive swimming is permitted under water law and / or tolerated accordingly.
The quality of official bathing water in Germany is monitored by the federal states that have issued state bathing water ordinances to implement the bathing water directive. The federal states report the bathing water data to the Federal Environment Agency , which makes them available to the EU Commission and the public.
In Lower Saxony in particular, in addition to the 280 officially designated bathing waters, many quarry ponds are widely known as bathing lakes, but where bathing is officially prohibited. Examples of particularly popular bathing lakes in this category are the Cluvenhagener See near Verden , the Rosdorfer Baggersee near Göttingen , the Tillysee near Oldenburg and the Wietzesee near Hanover .
Bathing within the framework of common use
Even in bodies of water that are not defined as bathing water under European law, bathing is usually permitted, as it either falls under the common use of bodies of water or has been authorized by the authorities. With regard to common use, the Federal German Water Management Act (WHG § 25) refers to the corresponding state water laws of the federal states . There it is regulated whether bathing is permitted for public use or not and under what conditions and restrictions.
In all 16 state water laws of the German federal states, with reference to WHG § 25, bathing is expressly under common use, in Bremen and Rhineland-Palatinate swimming is also mentioned. Diving that is not defined in more detail also falls under common use in four federal states (Bremen, Hesse , Lower Saxony , Schleswig-Holstein ), although recreational diving with breathing apparatus is expressly included in Lower Saxony only.
In Hesse , Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt , however, the public use of standing water is generally prohibited, but can be approved by the responsible water authorities (usually the lower water authorities of the districts and urban districts). In Lower Saxony, approval is deemed to have been granted if public use of the water in question was exercised on July 15, 1960, and in Saxony-Anhalt on September 8, 1993.
In four other federal states ( North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland , Saxony ), public use is limited to natural waters, thus initially excluding artificial lakes such as reservoirs and gravel pits . Here too, the water authorities can grant approval for artificial bodies of water. In most federal states there are also special regulations for dammed bodies of water ( dams , water reservoirs ) and bodies of water that are used to supply drinking water. The state water law in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania contains a curious regulation , in which public use is generally permitted in all surface waters (LWaG § 21 (1), with the exception of dams, retention and storage basins), and according to § 21 (5) the water authorities Allow public use of artificial flowing water and standing water.
All state laws with the exception of Rhineland-Palatinate contain a passage according to which public use is not permitted in courtyards, gardens and parks that are not open to the public, nine federal states also list industrial properties or facilities in this series. Drainable fish farming ponds are excluded in Bavaria , Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein, in Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there are reed and reed beds on lake shores.
In accordance with all state water laws, unauthorized bathing can be punished as a violation of public use as an administrative offense.
In addition to restrictions under water law, bathing can also be prohibited for other legal reasons, e.g. B. for reasons of nature conservation in nature reserves and other protected landscape components or in restricted military areas.
Web links
- Bathing waters in Germany , website of the Federal Environment Agency
- Bathing waters in Austria , website of the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection
- Bathing waters in Switzerland , website of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Umweltbundesamt , accessed on March 23, 2015
- ^ Lower Saxony Bathing Water Atlas , accessed on March 23, 2015
