Lake Garda

Lake Garda (in Italian “Lago di Garda”) is the largest and most strategic lake of Italy, and one of the largest and most visited of Western Europe. Lake Garda is a strategic drinking water basin which contain about 30% of the national surface water which quality must be highly preserved and safeguarded. The lake is located in northern Italy and it borders three regions, Trentino to the north, Lombardia to the south-west and Veneto to the south-east, about mid-way between Venice and Verona (Veneto region) and Brescia, Mantova and Milan (Lombardia). Lake Garda was probably formed by glaciers at the end of the ice age; its shape is typical of a moraine valley; another recent theory has been hypothesised that the glacier occupied a previously existent depression, created by stream erosion more than 5 million years ago. The basin can be divided into two different parts, the northern part of the lake is narrow and deep (more than 300 m), surrounded by high mountains, as Baldo (2.218 m a.m.s.l.), Caplone (1.976 m a.m.s.l.) and Tombea (1.950 m a.m.s.l.) mountains, while the southern part is large and shallow (less than 50 m), surrounded by low-laying countryside.

• Water surface area: 369,98 km2
• Primary inflow: River Sarca (North)
• Primary outflow: River Mincio (South-East)
• Water volume: 50,35 km3
• Surface elevation: 65 m above the sea level
• Maximum length: 51,6 km
• Maximum width: 17,2 km
• Average depth: 136 m
• Maximum depth: 346 m
• Basin perimeter: 176,8 km
• Residence time of the water: 26,8 years

The main tributary is the Sarca River which is located in the north part, while other minor streams inflow from both sides of the lake, such as Ponale River, Varone River, Gusa Creek, Dugale Creek. The only outflow is the Mincio River, in the south point of the lake.