Lake Idro is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 prealpine lake of glacial origin situated largely within the Province of Brescia

Province of Brescia

The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...

 (Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

) and in part in Trentino.

At 368 metres above sea level it is the highest of the Lombard prealpine lakes. The lake is fed principally by the waters of the river Chiese

Chiese

The Chiese, also known in the Province of Brescia as the Clisi, is a 160 km Italian river which is the principal immisary and sole emissary of the sub-alpine lake Lago d’Idro, and is a left tributary of the Oglio....

; that river is also its only emissary. It has a surface area of 11.4 km² and a maximum depth of 122 metres.

The lake is surrounded by wooded mountains. The shoreline of some 24 km is shared between four communes: Idro (the frazioni Crone and Belprato), from which the lake takes its name, Anfo

Anfo

Anfo is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy near Lake Idro. It is bounded by other communes of Bagolino and Collio.-External links:*http://www.vallesabbia.info/bin/index.php?id=118...

, Bagolino

Bagolino

Bagolino is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, in the valley of the river Caffaro, on the right side of Valle Sabbia. Bagolino is famous for the cheese named Bagòss and the carnival....

 (fraz. Ponte Caffaro) and Bondone

Bondone

Bondone is a comune located about 50 km southwest of Trento in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, on the border with Lombardy...

 (fraz. Baitoni).

Lake Idro currently faces severe problems of eutrophication

Eutrophication

Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...

 resulting from the absence of adequate sewerage systems and the use of its feed-waters for irrigation and the generation of hydropower

Hydropower

Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...

: it has become a site of conflict between environmental, agricultural and electricity industry interests.