Germany turning abandoned coal mines into 23 lakes, becoming artificial wetland

Eastern Germany’s former lignite belt is being reshaped into the Lusatian Lakeland, a network of 23 post‑mining lakes created by flooding abandoned open‑cast pits and remediating surrounding land. The project, stretching across Brandenburg and Saxony between Berlin and Dresden, now comprises roughly 14,000 hectares of water after decades of staged inundation that began with Lake Senftenberg in 1967. Flooding has relied on groundwater and imported river water; mining‑rehabilitation company LMBV says rapid filling was often required because the excavations left vast depressions that could not be restored by earthworks alone. Sedlitzer See reached its planned level in 2025 and, at about 1,400 hectares, is now the region’s largest recreational lake.

Work now goes beyond isolated basins to knitting them into a navigable water landscape: on June 29, 2026 five major lakes were linked by canals to create a contiguous 5,100‑hectare waterway, and planners envision 13 navigable canals in total (four completed). Rehabilitation has stabilized slopes, enabled young forests, wetlands and grasslands to establish, and supported a tourism pivot - beaches, marinas, cycling routes, campsites and water sports - while preserving mining heritage sites. The result is a large‑scale environmental and economic transition from coal extraction to recreation, nature restoration and a new regional identity as one of Europe’s biggest artificial wetland landscapes.