[2] The lake's main inflow is the estavelle Matija's Cave (Matijeva jama) out of which the water flowing from the Javornik Hills erupts.

[1][2] The area is filled with water for significant part of the year, so the lake's bottom cannot be used for agriculture, but the grassy surface makes it possible to allow grazing livestock and harvesting hay.

[5] Ice-making was a supplementary source of income for locals from the end of the 18th century until the middle of the 20th century; farmers from Pivka used to break off ice blocks and store them until spring, then transport them on horse-pulled carts to Trieste where it was used in butcher shops, fisheries and restaurants before the onset of electric cooling.

Women would pick herbs for herbal remedies, mostly juniper berries, ribwort plantain, yarrow, thyme, and others.

The broader area of the Pivka Lakes was used as a military training ground first by the Austro-Hungarian army, and later by the Italian and Yugoslav armed forces.