# Seasonal lakes of Pivka

The Pivka seasonal lakes are a group of 17 seasonal lakes; the best-known are Lake Petelinje and Lake Palčje, which is the biggest of them at about 1.9 square kilometres (0.73 sq mi). They are all located in Pivka Basin, Inner Carniola, Slovenia. Lake Jeredovce, the northernmost lake, is in Municipality of Postojna, 10 of them (Krajnikov dol, Lake Petelinje, Lake Radohovo, Lake Klenik, Lake Palčje, Lake Parje, Big and Little Lake Drskovče, and Big and Little Lake Zagorje) are in Municipality of Pivka and the southernmost 6 (Kljun Pond, Lake Kalec, Lake behind Kalec (Veliki dol), Lake Bač, Lake Lan, and Lake Šembije) are in the Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica, all of them are located at elevations between 549 metres (1,801 ft) and 570 metres (1,870 ft). There are also two areas (polje) that are only inundated during intense floods, so they are not officially considered among the Pivka seasonal lakes.
The lakes are located on a rocky terrace in the Upper Pivka Basin at the foothills of the Javornik Hills, rising above the Pivka riverbed. The terrace is dotted with a number of depressions with flat bottoms and sharp transitions at the banks, deep enough to reach the level of groundwater fluctuation. Thus, they are inundated after periods of stronger precipitation (late autumn and spring).

## List of lakes

There are total of 19 seasonal lakes, of which 17 are officially recognized. They are all listed from north to south in the table below:
| Name | Elevation (m) | Elevation (m) | Elevation (m) | Area (m$^2$) | Area (m$^2$) | Volume (m³) | Volume (m³) | Frequency of inundation | Coordinates | Image |
| Name | Bottom | Average area | Max area | Average | Max | Average | Max | Frequency of inundation | Coordinates | Image |
| Lake Jeredovce | 537.5 | | 542 | | 90,197 | | 113,428 | rarely | 45°43′46″N 14°12′55″E﻿ / ﻿45.729490°N 14.215185°E﻿ / 45.729490; 14.215185 | |
| Krajnikov dol | 537 | | 540 | | 21,513 | | 18,849 | rarely | 45°43′09″N 14°12′30″E﻿ / ﻿45.719075°N 14.208201°E﻿ / 45.719075; 14.208201 | |
| Lake Petelinje | 532.2 | 541 | 545 | 647,157 | 736,341 | 4,128,712 | 6,891,976 | often | 45°42′24.69″N 14°13′33.82″E﻿ / ﻿45.7068583°N 14.2260611°E﻿ / 45.7068583; 14.2260611 | |
| Lake Palčje | 542.3 | 555 | 566 | 1,027,812 | 1,904,784 | 7,144,854 | 22,983,817 | often | 45°41′7.68″N 14°15′14.53″E﻿ / ﻿45.6854667°N 14.2540361°E﻿ / 45.6854667; 14.2540361 | |
| Lake Klenik (Klenski dol) | 544 | 545 | 547.5 | 3,689 | 36,830 | 1,330 | 57,565 | rarely | 45°40′45″N 14°13′28″E﻿ / ﻿45.679230°N 14.224306°E﻿ / 45.679230; 14.224306 | |
| Lake Radohovo | 534.2 | 535.6 | 536 | 7,455 | 15,519 | 14,221 | 22,434 | often | 45°40′31″N 14°12′19″E﻿ / ﻿45.675273°N 14.205231°E﻿ / 45.675273; 14.205231 | |
| Lake Parje | 538 | 540 | 542 | 29,798 | 37,231 | 46,060 | 114,594 | often | 45°40′02″N 14°13′29″E﻿ / ﻿45.667099°N 14.224827°E﻿ / 45.667099; 14.224827 | |
| Little Lake Drskovče | 539.2 | 540 | 544 | 41,120 | 82,657 | 52,593 | 327,782 | often | 45°39′47″N 14°13′48″E﻿ / ﻿45.663011°N 14.230118°E﻿ / 45.663011; 14.230118 | |
| Big Lake Drskoče | 541.7 | 545 | 549 | 186,334 | 207,547 | 441,427 | 1,247,611 | often | 45°39′31″N 14°14′16″E﻿ / ﻿45.658663°N 14.237718°E﻿ / 45.658663; 14.237718 | |
| Big Lake Zagorje | 549 | 550 | 551 | 16,552 | 23,479 | 19,920 | 39,085 | rarely | 45°39′11″N 14°14′32″E﻿ / ﻿45.653012°N 14.242114°E﻿ / 45.653012; 14.242114 | |
| Little Lake Zagorje | 544.2 | 548 | 548.5 | 39,425 | 44,552 | 83,100 | 103,768 | often | 45°39′05″N 14°14′09″E﻿ / ﻿45.651476°N 14.235818°E﻿ / 45.651476; 14.235818 | |
| Lake behind Kalec (Veliki dol za kalcem) | 553.8 | 555 | 556 | 15,001 | 18,496 | 26,729 | 42,125 | rarely | 45°38′38″N 14°14′39″E﻿ / ﻿45.643908°N 14.244197°E﻿ / 45.643908; 14.244197 | |
| Kljun Pond | 549.5 | 551 | 551 | 784 | 784 | 80 | 80 | often | 45°38′35″N 14°14′23″E﻿ / ﻿45.643181°N 14.239692°E﻿ / 45.643181; 14.239692 | |
| Lake Bač | 560.4 | 562.5 | 568 | 32,531 | 86,250 | 64,648 | 392,551 | rarely | 45°38′33″N 14°15′25″E﻿ / ﻿45.642401°N 14.256960°E﻿ / 45.642401; 14.256960 | |
| Lake Lan | 570.2 | | 572 | | 12,384 | | 19,308 | rarely | 45°38′30″N 14°15′37″E﻿ / ﻿45.641655°N 14.260206°E﻿ / 45.641655; 14.260206 | |
| Čičko polje | 568.5 | | 576.5 | | 591,419 | | 591,417 | very rare | 45°37′46″N 14°14′55″E﻿ / ﻿45.629419°N 14.248502°E﻿ / 45.629419; 14.248502 | |
| Lake Kalec | 553.8 | 555 | 554.5 | 56,368 | 16,280 | 26,813 | 6,937 | often | 45°38′11″N 14°14′22″E﻿ / ﻿45.636331°N 14.239513°E﻿ / 45.636331; 14.239513 | |
| Nariče | 571.1 | | 573 | | 78,092 | | 82,966 | very rare | 45°36′10″N 14°15′25″E﻿ / ﻿45.602804°N 14.256997°E﻿ / 45.602804; 14.256997 | |
| Lake Šembije | 558.8 | 560 | 569.9 | 12,381 | 93,561 | 11,274 | 549,971 | rarely | 45°36′04″N 14°15′03″E﻿ / ﻿45.601062°N 14.250922°E﻿ / 45.601062; 14.250922 | |
* 1 2 Lake because of very rare activity, officially is not a seasonal lake
* 1 2 3 average water level was measured before the build of a drain canal which drastically decreased water level

## Protection

The first attempts to protect the seasonal lakes date back to 1960s, but even after declaring Lake Petelinje and Lake Palčje living natural monuments (class II) of national significance, they were still used for military purposes. In 1984, the Municipality of Postojna issued a decree declaring Lake Palčje, Lake Petelinje, and Little and Big Lake Drskovče natural monuments and a decade later it expanded to 13 lakes. Despite this, the army still used Lake Palčje and Lake Petelinje, and other areas were becoming overgrown due to discontinuation of farming, so the area continued to degrade. Now, Lake Palčje and Lake Petelinje are protected as natural values of national significance, and other lakes as natural values of local significance. The lakes are also part of the Snežnik–Pivka Ecologically Important Area, the Snežnik–Pivka Special Protection Area, and the Javorniki–Snežnik Conditionally Special Protection Area.
In 2014, Pivka Seasonal Lakes Regional Park was established, encompassing all lakes in the Municipality of Pivka.