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4 0 4 / P I L O T C A S E S T U D I E S : A F O C U S O N R E A L - W O R L D E X A M P L E SLake Peipsi/Chudskoe-Pskovskoe, Estonia and the Russian FederationLAKE PEIPSI/CHUDSKOE-PSKOVSKOE, sometimes called Peipus, is thefourth largest and the biggest transboundary lake in Europe. Itsthree names originate from the three languages historically used inthe region – Estonian, Russian and German. Lake Peipsi belongs to thewatershed of the Narva River, a 77 kilometre (km)-long watercourse thatconnects Lake Peipsi to the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea.General ContextThe lake consists of three unequal parts: the biggest, northern Lake Peipsi sensu stricto(s.s.)/Chudskoe, the southern Lake Pskovskoe/Pskovskoe and the narrow, straits-like LakeLämmijärv/Teploe, which connects Lake Peipsi s.s. and Lake Pskovskoe. Lake Peipsi is located onthe border of the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation between Lake Peipsi lowland(eastern border of Estonia) and the East European Plain (the Russian Federation). The lake liesat 30 metres above sea level.Major physical characteristicsThe catchment area of Lake Peipsi is approximately 160 kmin width and 370 km in length. It has a surface area of47,800 square kilometres (km 2 ), of which 16,623 km 2 lie inEstonia, 27,917 km 2 in the Russian Federation and 3,650 km 2 inLatvia. The catchment area is a gently undulatingglaciolacustrine or till-covered plain, belonging to the forestzone of the East Baltic Geobotanical Subprovince.The formation of the lake basin is due mainly to Pleistoceneglaciers. In the north, some topographical features originatedmore than 380 million years ago, and have been slightlymodified by the glaciers. On the northern part of the lake, scarp,Table 17.2: Morphometric data on Lake PeipsiMap 17.1: Locator mapAtlanticOceanESTONIALATVIALITHUANIARUSSIAN FED.FINLANDLake Peipsi/ChudskoebasinBELARUSSource: Prepared for the World Water Assessment Programme(WWAP) by AFDEC, 2002.sandy beaches prevail. The flat shores, found mainly on thewestern part of the lake, are usually swampy, populated withreeds and bulrushes.Table 17.2 provides some morphometric data on Lake Peipsi.Table 17.1: Hydrological characteristics of the Lake Peipsi basinSurface area of the basin 47,800 km 2Annual precipitation575 mm/yearAnnual discharge 329 m 3 /sAnnual inflow to lake 324 m 3 /sAnnual outflow from lake 329 m 3 /sLake Peipsi s.s./ Lake Lämmijärv/ Lake Pskovskoe/ Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe Teploe Pskovskoe Chudskoe-PskovskoeTotal basin area, km 2 2,611 236 708 3,555Distribution of the waters betweenEstonia and the Russian Federation, km 2 1,387/1,224 118/118 25/683 1,564/1,991Distribution of the waters between 55/44 50/50 1/99 44/56Estonia and the Russian Federation, %Percentage of surface area 73 7 20 100Volume, km 3 21.79 0.60 2.68 25.07Percentage of total volume 87 2 11 100Medium depth, m 8.3 2.5 3.8 7.1Maximum depth, m 12.9 15.3 5.3 15.3Length, km 81 30 41 152Medium width, km 32 7.9 17 23Maximum width, km 47 8.1 20 47Length of shoreline, km 260 83 177 520Percentage of total length, km 50 16 34 100Source: Jaani, 2001.