Physical alterations to surface water bodies

Surface water bodies may have been heavily modified for a range of reasons, such as land drainage, land reclamation, locks, weirs, channelisation and dredging. These charts show the reasons why countries have identified some water bodies as heavily modified, giving the proportions of each type of change.
Across Europe, most alterations are for land drainage and reclamation. Use the dropdown box to select between rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal water bodies. This shows that most highly modified lakes have been altered for land drainage, while for rivers, land reclamation is the major reason.