Tourists' perceptions of water quality in Finland, dataset, related to article "Browning of Boreal Lakes: Do Public Perceptions and Governance Meet the Biological Foundations?" by Albrecht et al. (2022). Article abstract: "Surface water browning, also known as brownification, is an acute environmental issue concerning inland waters. We adopt an interdisciplinary perspective and combine limnology, ecology, environmental law, tourism, and economics to build a theoretical framework to understand the consequences and management needs concerning water browning, generate a research agenda, and pinpoint acute research needs. Using a systematic review approach, we identify gaps of knowledge and address the impacts of browning on lake ecosystem functioning. To support the biological information, we present primary survey data to define the recreational use and public perception of waters in Finland. We identified an urgent need for the development of indicators of brownification beyond EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) to be able to balance the costs of browning with terrestrial activities that increase browning. Despite a considerable body of research already exists, there is still a need for better understanding of the biogeochemical processes related to browning to progress towards ecosystem-based management of inland waters. Public perception of the quality of waterbodies in Finland was largely in agreement with the proportion of waterbodies classified to meet the good or excellent ecological status, but recreational fishers may value different aspects of water quality compared to the classification based on WFD. Consequently, to build an interdisciplinary understanding of how browning affects boreal lakes and their uses, we suggest improvements for environmental regulation concerning the impact assessment of terrestrial land use activities and ecosystem-based management of inland waters."