Board Game Arena

Hi,
I have been trying to figure out how to score lakes and after several games- maybe 10+, I don’t have a sense of being able to tell when a lake will ‘count’ or be ‘filled’ - even when there is ‘water’ populated after placement, the score in the special area remains at 1. Then, I can completely close a lake all around and still score 1 point. I have the game at home too and read the rules there hoping to understand better — but alas, maybe I have been scoring/playing wrong irl all this time? Can anyone explain it in simple terms as the BGA instructions haven’t helped me. I haven’t found a video explaining it either. Other than that-love this game and would be excited to see other versions added on!

(1) for ‘count’, smallest lake will count if all the water is not contained within same lake hence the special area remains at 1

(2) for ‘filled’, three sides need to be filled with water for that square to be auto filled

Said differently:

(1) the running, accumulating, "special" score, is always based on the smallest lake at the time on your gameplay. Most likely, your observation of the score not increasing throughout the gameplay, is based on the fact that you had lingering, single lake pieces, not connected to your larger lake components throughout the game. Once you have combined your lake into one complete connected assembly, the running total "special" score should update respectively.
(2) If you continue to have abandoned lake pieces not connected to your other larger lake components, only the smallest lake (or portions of lake) will be scored.
(3) At the end of the game, if you have not successfully connected all your lake pieces, the smallest lake will be reflected by your final score total.
(4) Lakes DO NOT need to be neatly closed in on all sides, to be considered an independent lake, nor is it required for final scoring. A single abandoned triangle piece of water IS considered a small independent complete lake on it's own.

Strategies:
(a) Try to end up with ONE big lake at game end - for max scoring.
(b) Try to maximize the number of free water filled in by surrounding squares on three sides with water.
(c) Use the lake to join routes.
(d) Use the lake to also score for the centre (9) nine blocks in the middle of the board.