Overview

• A 2025 study by the University of Konstanz and Brandenburg State Office documents how wave action from motorboats and passenger ships destabilizes sediments and damages shoreline ecosystems in lakes such as Bodensee, Starnberger See and Röblinsee.
• Researchers found that sediment resuspension triggered by boat waves releases bound methane from lake beds, increasing the climate impact of recreational boating.
• Docking infrastructure occupies roughly 150 square meters per berth on average while boat densities reach up to 112 vessels per square kilometer on Lake Constance, leading to extensive habitat loss.
• Most of the surveyed lakes currently fail to meet the EU Water Framework Directive’s ecological and chemical status requirements and risk missing the 2027 compliance deadline.
• Scientists are calling for regulatory measures—including speed limits, vessel-size caps, trip quotas and shoreline buffer zones—but no binding policies have been enacted to date.