Wiesaz
| Wiesaz | ||
 Stream loop of the Wiesaz at the Wiesazsägmühle. A steep wall of alluvial clay and periglacial limestone gravel has formed on the impact slope. |
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| Data | ||
| Water code | DE : 2381588 | |
| location | Baden-Württemberg ; Germany | |
| River system | Rhine | |
| Drain over | Steinlach → Neckar → Rhine → North Sea | |
| source | below Sonnenbühl - Genkingen 48 ° 24 ′ 29 ″ N , 9 ° 10 ′ 50 ″ E |
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| Source height | approx. 760 m above sea level NN | |
| muzzle | at the settlement of the Pulvermühle in Steinlach coordinates: 48 ° 28 '18 " N , 9 ° 3' 50" E 48 ° 28 '18 " N , 9 ° 3' 50" E |
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| Mouth height | approx. 360 m above sea level NN | |
| Height difference | approx. 400 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 23 ‰ | |
| length | 17.5 km | |
| Catchment area | 38.684 km² | |
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Tributaries and hydraulic structures
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The Wiesaz is the longest tributary of the Steinlach , which flows into the right side . It rises at an altitude of around 760 m above sea level. NN below the Sonnenbühl district of Genkingen on the Swabian Alb , a karst mountain range . The emerging spring water contains a lot of dissolved lime, which precipitates after pressure relief and the removal of carbon dioxide by aquatic plants, mostly algae . As a result, several meters thick calcareous deposits have formed in the upper Wiesaztal for about 7000 years , which were mined until 1975 for the extraction of Gönninger limestone tuff and lime sand.
The Wiesaz flows through the Gönninger Lakes, which were created from the former tufa limestone quarries as part of renaturation measures , and through the towns of Gönningen and Bronnweiler , both districts of Reutlingen , Gomaringen and the Pulvermühle settlement , before reaching an altitude of around 17.5 kilometers at 360 m ü. NN immediately after crossing under the federal highway 27 in the Steinlach opens.
In Gomaringen the Wiesaz takes on the Erdmannsbach coming from the Rahnberg in the south. At the Wiesazsägmühle, the ditch opens on the left. The Wiesaz has no right side tributaries worth mentioning. Together with the Öschenbach, a tributary to the right of the Steinlach, which encroaches from the west into the eaves of the Swabian Alb, the Wiesaz has almost separated the plateau between Schömberg in the west and Rinderberg in the east from the plateau of the Alb. The resulting remote mountain is crowned by the 870 m high Roßberg , one of the highest mountains in the central Swabian Alb.
In the course of the Wiesaz there are several branches of the mill canal and partly disused sawmills and grain mills that tap the year-round water-carrying stream. A power station and a former sawmill in Gomaringen still use the water power of the stream today. In its upper course, the Wiesaz also receives the receiving water from the Genking sewage treatment plant.
Between the villages of Bronnweiler and Gomaringen as well as between Gomaringen and the confluence with the Steinlach, the Wiesaz has a naturally winding watercourse with impact and sliding slope areas. It runs there in a wide flood plain. The edge of the water is characterized by a near-natural alluvial forest gallery of white willow , ash and red alder , which is dominated by isolated hybrid poplars (populus × canadensis). By the intense low Lothar many gaps were torn in the closed trees. In the area of the former tufa limestone quarry, the course of the Wiesaz has been straightened. There it is also bordered by a near-natural red alder alluvial forest.
There are paved bike paths for almost the entire length of the Wiesaztal, which is deeply cut towards the source. The Gönninger Lakes are a recreational area with a lawn and a large parking lot. However, they also provide a habitat for numerous, sometimes rare, plant and animal species. There are z. B. chandelier algae detected. There are breeding grounds for dippers and little grebes . The lake is also used as a feeding habitat by the water bat.
