Lopau (river)
| Lopau | ||
 The Lopau in Lopau, near its source |
||
| Data | ||
| Water code | DE : 59484 | |
| location | In Germany , Lower Saxony | |
| River system | Elbe | |
| Drain over | Luhe → Ilmenau → Elbe → North Sea | |
| source | Spring arms in the district of Lopau 53 ° 3 ′ 23 ″ N , 10 ° 12 ′ 16 ″ E |
|
| Source height | 72 m above sea level NHN | |
| muzzle | At Oldendorf in die Luhe coordinates: 53 ° 8 '43 " N , 10 ° 12' 55" E 53 ° 8 '43 " N , 10 ° 12' 55" E |
|
| Mouth height | 37 m above sea level NHN | |
| Height difference | 35 m | |
| Bottom slope | 2.5 ‰ | |
| length | 13.8 km | |
| Catchment area | 99 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Ehlbeck (Lopau) | |
| Flowing lakes | Lopausee | |
| Small towns | Lopau as a district of Munster | |
| Communities | Rehlingen , Amelinghausen | |
The Lopau is a right tributary of the Luhe in the Lüneburg Heath .
course
The Lopau rises with two headwaters from the southern ponds and the western ponds located in the Westergrund on the Munster-Nord military training area , near the uninhabited village of Lopau , which belongs to the area of the city of Munster . In its upper reaches, the Lopau flows through a valley with a comparatively strong relief that is cut up to 30 meters into the Raubkammer wooded area . In the former grassland of the valley floor, alder growth is now spreading. In Bockum , a district of the municipality of Rehlingen in the district of Lüneburg , it takes on the Ehlbeck, which flows in from the left and is at least the same size . To the east of Amelinghausen , the river is dammed by a dam on federal road 209 to the Lopausee, which is used for tourism . To the north of Amelinghausen, the Lopau flows into the Luhe on the right near the Oldendorfer Totenstatt near Oldendorf (Luhe) . From the source to the mouth, the river is 13.8 km long. Over the longer Ehlbeck there is a longest flow path of 17.3 kilometers. A short section of the Lopau in the district of Uelzen is part of the Lopautal nature reserve .
Geology and water quality
The catchment area of the Lopau covers 99 square kilometers. It rises in an ice age melting channel in the terminal moraines and sands of the Hohe Heide , the central ridge of the Lüneburg Heath. The source area of the Lopau lies within the Munster Nord military training area. In order not to endanger the waters, heavy military vehicles, especially tanks, are only allowed to use concrete armored roads in this area. After the weirs built in the 19th century on the upper reaches of the Lopau to cultivate meadows have largely fallen into disrepair, the Lopau is considered to be largely natural, its water quality has consistently been class II (moderately polluted). In this section, which is mostly shaded by dense wood on the banks, the Lopau again shows characteristics of a water body that is hardly influenced by anthropogenic influences. The water quality is noticeably impaired by the damming at Lopausee, the high outlet of which prevents the upward movement of fish and other animals that live exclusively in the water. In order to protect the water, with the exception of Lake Lopause, it is forbidden to use pleasure boats. The water quality is monitored by the state of Lower Saxony at the Bockum measuring point .
Flora and fauna
In the valley floors in the headwaters and on the upper reaches of the Lopau there is a varied quarry landscape with moors, mixed forests, overgrown meadows and numerous, partly silted up fish ponds. The river also serves as a habitat for rare species of fish such as the brook lamprey and bullhead . The black stork , kingfisher and rough-owl breed in the upper Lopautal and the neighboring forests .
Water management
In the 19th century the Lopau was dammed by weirs to irrigate the adjacent meadows. After meadow cultivation was largely given up and some of the meadow drainage systems that were built at the time were blocked, an alder break spreads again on the upper reaches. The ruins of the pottery tower (today's spelling deviates from the name!) Above a 15-meter-high steep slope on the right-hand side in the district of Lopau reminds of the cultivation of the large heather and moor areas on the upper reaches of the river by the Magdeburg industrialist Richard Toepffer .
Web links
swell
- ↑ Topographic maps 1: 25,000 and 1: 10,000
- ↑ NLWKN water quality map ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management and Coastal Protection, Lüneburg and Stade offices: Water quality report ELBE 2000
- ↑ Kappes HJ, Sidow A, Lutz K, Bothe G 1981: Das Lopautal. Natural history contributions by the DJN , Hamburg 7: 5-37 ( online )
- ↑ Herms L. 1987: Lopau then and now. Binneboom, Annual Gazette for Homeland Research and Conservation 20: 1-68
