Mission Mjøsa

Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake and has been a resource for the surrounding areas for thousands of years.
The lake has a rich biological diversity and is highly valued both as a fishing lake and a recreational area.
Mjøsa also plays an important role for culture and identity in the Inland Region of Norway.
But Mjøsa has also been used as a transport route, water reservoir, rubbish dump and sewage tank. Large
quantities of ammunition waste have been dumped, runoff from agriculture causes problems and algal
blooms occur at irregular intervals, which means that local measures are initiated.
There has been and is a great deal of attention regarding the conditions in and around Mjøsa. Since
“Mjøsaksjonen” - “The Mjøsa Campaign” - in the 1970s, there has been continuous monitoring of Mjøsa.
Increasing awareness of how important Mjøsa is for the surrounding ecosystems and people in the region
has also meant that a wide range of actors have larger and smaller research projects linked to Mjøsa.
Nevertheless, there are large knowledge gaps that have not been closed. Recently, the focus on
vulnerability and preparedness has also been highlighted, and it is obvious that securing Mjøsa as a
source of drinking water is an important issue in this context.
Mission Mjøsa's ambition is to close some of these knowledge gaps by applying a holistic sustainable
perspective where we adopt the latest technology we use in the sea, engage residents and trigger
synergies through close collaboration with other actors who have interests and activities in Mjøsa.
Since “Mjøsaksjonen”, there has been a lot of monitoring activity in Mjøsa, i.a. under the auspices of the
Water Resources Association – Vassdragsforbundet – and others. Nevertheless, there is broad agreement
that a strengthened interdisciplinary effort and use of new technology is now needed, where a
consortium of participants is brought together to answer the full range of challenges linked to Mjøsa.
Mjøsa today contains a number of opportunities and challenges:
• Mjøsa is Norway's largest freshwater resource, and good management of this resource is crucial to
maintaining and increasing its value.
• Mjøsa is a particularly good conservation environment for underwater cultural relics, and can contain
hidden Viking ships, pilot vessels and other cultural relics of high national value.
• Runoff, municipal emissions and climate change which, among other things, lead to more torrential rain
affect Mjøsa. It is therefore important to have monitoring and to be able to implement measures to
prevent negative effects such as algae blooms.
• There has been widespread dumping of ammunition and other industrial waste in Mjøsa for many
decades, but the extent and long-term environmental effects are poorly known. It is therefore necessary
to obtain a good knowledge base in order to assess the need for and possibly implement remedial
measures.
• The municipalities around Mjøsa are increasingly developing and using the areas around Mjøsa. This
provides opportunities for the enjoyment of the population and the business world, while at the same
time it can also lead to greater pressure on protected nature. Knowledge of effects and consequences is
necessary to ensure overall sustainable management of a limited resource.
Better knowledge will provide better conditions for a sustainable use of Mjøsa.