Loch Vaa is a body of water in

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, Scotland. It is located between

Boat of Garten Boat of Garten ( gd, Coit a' Ghartain; originally: Garten) is a small village and post town in Badenoch and Strathspey, Highland, Scotland. In 1951, the population was less than 400; in 1971, it was almost 500; in 1981, it was almost 700, and the ...

and

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popul ...

in the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park ( gd, Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Tro ...

. It is used for fishing, swimming and boating and its wooden boathouse is a popular location for tourists and photographers. The loch also contains the remains of a historic

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

structure. In 2018-19 the loch was subject to a dramatic drop in water levels over a dry winter period and was not restored to usual levels until prolonged rainfall in July 2019.

Description

Loch Vaa is a spring-fed freshwater

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

which is said to have "

gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis''). Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...

clear" waters. The loch is owned by a local estate but a number of businesses have been granted rights for fishing, swimming and boating activities. The fishery is managed and the lake is stocked with

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

; it is also frequented by wild

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...

. The loch's wooden boathouse, which is used for fishing, is surrounded by water and is a popular destination for tourists and photographers. The loch contains the remains of a

, a historic fortified structure constructed on an artificial island. Birch timber recovered from the Loch Vaa crannog dates it to the 13th century, though the structure may be even older - dating back to the time of the

Pict The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...

s or earlier

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

peoples.

2018/2019 water loss

Between September 2018 and May 2019 the loch suffered a dramatic drop in water levels. Over this period some of water were lost, causing the water level to fall by . By mid-September boats were unable to use the famous boathouse, which soon became accessible by dry land; the owner even considered relocating the structure. By May 2019 the loch fell to its lowest level in 750 years and archaeological experts were called in to check the historic crannog remains. The crannog was found to have been undamaged by the loss of water, which is key to prevent the remains from deteriorating, but came close with the water level just centimetres above the surviving timbers. Local councillor Bill Lobban called for a full investigation into the water level issues by public bodies. The

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's Environmental regulation, environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management au ...

(SEPA) claimed that the cause was the comparatively dry winter of 2018/19 which had led to low groundwater levels in the area. There was some suspicion directed at

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...

which had recently drilled a new borehole at Aviemore. However they claimed that their borehole was located upstream and that the local glacial geology isolated the loch from the abstraction site. Water levels rose significantly by early July 2019 following 37 days of rain and were at a 20-year high by 2020.

Gallery

File:Crannog on Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 1490531.jpg, The crannog island File:Boathouse, Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 601895.jpg, Boathouse File:Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 1619.jpg, Fishermen on the loch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaa, Loch Lochs of Highland (council area) Freshwater lochs of Scotland