Northern part of Lake Cospuden opens permanently for boats

The northern part of Lake Cospuden is to be permanently opened to shipping from February. The State Directorate of Saxony (LDS) created the legal framework for this by general decree, as the authority announced. Passenger ships, motorized pleasure craft and non-motorized watercraft will then be allowed to navigate the area all year round.

"Lake Cospuden will be permanently open to shipping from the coming season," said LDS President Béla Bélafi. Recreational captains can now navigate the lake without any further administrative effort. The southern tip of the lake remains off-limits to boats for nature conservation reasons.

Lake Cospuden is one of the most popular excursion destinations in the south of Leipzig. The lake, which covers more than 400 hectares, was created after the Lusatian and Central German Mining Administration Company (LMBV) closed down the open-cast mine.

The ruling is the result of many years of coordination between the LDS, state government, ministries, specialist authorities and environmental and nature conservation associations. It was based on extensive nature conservation, water law and mining technology assessments.

The state directorate was unable to comply with the wishes of some associations to exclude boats with combustion engines. The current law does not allow any differentiation by type of propulsion, it said.