Bosnia and Herzegovina · Western Bosnia

Buško Lake

Directions

Buško jezero

Buško Lake, also called Buško Blato, lies near the Croatian border on the south side of Livanjsko Polje in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a reservoir, one of the largest man-made lakes in Europe, and it was farmland until the 1970s. The lake and the villages around it, of which Prisoje is the largest, share the Buško name.

How it formed

Buško Blato is a man-made lake. It collects the water of the karst fields of western Herzegovina and western Bosnia, which drain almost entirely through sinking rivers, ponors and underground channels. The lake is shared between the municipalities of Livno and Tomislavgrad.

History

The word blato means mud or swamp, and until the early 1970s the area was essentially farmland. It was then flooded to make a reservoir for a hydroelectric power system, planned mainly to supply electricity to the Dalmatian coast and its tourism. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, then republics of Yugoslavia, worked together on the project, which includes the Orlovac power plant at Ruda in Croatia.

Nature

The lake is rich in fish, among them carp, minnow-nase, Prussian carp, chub, zander, wels catfish and trout. It is also a Ramsar wetland and an Important Bird Area, a sign of how many birds use it, and the thaw of the winter ice is a spectacle in itself.

Gallery

4 photos

Photo: Zoran Pravdić · Public domain

Photo: Lexerati · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Brian Eager from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina · CC BY 2.0

Photo: Marilda48 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Visit

Getting there

Nearest settlement: Prisoje

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

The lake lies in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to the Croatian border. Ask locally about access roads and fishing rules before you go.

An uncrowded lake

At nearly 56 km² and about 716 m above sea level, Buško is one of the largest reservoirs in Europe, yet it is fairly untouristy and off the radar for many travellers. There is room for swimming, sailing and other wind-driven sports, and one swimming spot is the beach at Marinovac, at Bukova Gora.

Fishing

The company Voda-Riba-Sport Buško Jezero in Tomislavgrad is named as the contact for fishing. Rules vary by place, season and species, so ask there before you cast.