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A study  of the physical characteristics of the Aral Sea shows continuous mixing of the water layers, which supplies the upper layers with nutrients and the bottom of the lake with oxygen. However, even small changes in water level or transparency (e.g. due to increased algal production) can bring the lake out of balance.

Some of these solutions are presented in the new exhibition On Water. WasserWissen in Berlin, which will be on display from 10 October 2025. IGB researcher Professor Dörthe Tetzlaff also contributed her expertise.

Too little rain, too little water in the landscape – so simple, so serious. Even if the drought is obvious because freshwaters carry less water, plants wither and the soil becomes brittle and cracked, the drying out itself is a complex process in which the spatial context plays an important role. Professor Dörthe Tetzlaff from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) is investigating this interplay of environmental factors, water storage and water flows in the landscape, focussing on the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

IGB researchers gave feedback in the EU consultation on the GreenData4All initaitive.

Floodplains can store and purify water. A team led by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), in close cooperation with the Lower Oder Valley National Park, has investigated the role of the Oder's extensive floodplains for the water balance and the turnover of nutrients and pollutants. The results indicate that a permanent opening of the flooding weirs could be beneficial in order to keep at least some of the floodplains in contact with the river for longer periods of the year and maintain their important function.

A new IGB Dossier shows options for action for policy-makers and authorities at the nutrient-polluted Lake Arendsee.

Professor Dörthe Tetzlaff was today awarded the highly endowed Water Resources Award of the Rüdiger Kurt Bode Foundation. The prize, which is awarded every three years for outstanding work on the sustainable use of global water resources, honours Tetzlaff's pioneering research on the interactions between climate, land use, water quality and the ecohydrological processes that control water dynamics in landscapes.

To address the growing challenges posed by extreme droughts, researchers are focusing on ecohydrological processes in landscapes. They show that a better understanding of water storage dynamics at medium scales, i.e. areas between 10 and 100 square kilometres, could help to better predict and secure the availability of water resources, even in times of climate change. We spoke to Professor Dörthe Tetzlaff about drought resilience, the hidden water treasures of our landscapes, and more sustainable land and water management.