Lake Suwa — Eutrophication and its partial recent recovery

Lake Suwa, located in the center of the largest Japanese island of Honshu was a typical hypertrophic lake with a dense scum Microcystis species in summer during the 1970's. However, due to the introduction of a sewage treatment plant and the awareness of environmental pollution by local residents, a decrease in the concentration of nutrients in lake water since 1981 has been observed (from 1600 g l^–1 and 160 g l^–1 in 1977 to 990 g l^–1 and 110 g l^–1 in 1984 for total nitrogen and phosphorus respectively).