The Aar Dam and its reservoir, the Aartalsee, lie in the upper Aar valley in the German state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

. Both are in the municipalities of Bischoffen and Hohenahr in the county of Lahn-Dill-Kreis and about 15 km northwest of the town of

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

. On the lakeshores lie the villages of Ahrdt and

Mudersbach Mudersbach is a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country ...

, both part of the parish of Hohenahr. Since 1991 the dam has impounded the River

Aar AAR or Aar may refer to: Geography * Aar, a river in Switzerland, tributary of the Rhine *Aar (Lahn), a tributary of Lahn river in Germany, descending from the Taunus mountains * Aar (Dill), a tributary of Dill river in Germany, also in the bas ...

, a left-hand tributary of the

Dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual plant, annual herbaceous, herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Anethum''. Dill is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice fo ...

in the Gladenbach Uplands. The reservoir is also fed by the Stadterbach, Wilsbach (into the forebay), Weidbach and Meerbach (into the main reservoir).

Use

The dam is primarily used for

flood protection Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water leve ...

for the Aar and Dill. In Winter the reservoir is filled to a capacity of 1.33 million m³; in summer this rises to 1.84 million m³. Other uses are: raising low water levels, electricity generation, fishing and recreation. As a result, the dam and reservoir also contribute economically to the region. The reservoir was opened in 1992 as a bathing lake. Its operator is the county council of Lahn-Dill-Kreis and the Dillgebeit Water Association.

External links

{{Commons category * Hessisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie:
Der Aartalsee
' In: Badeseen in Hessen, retrieved 13 May 2009

''Warum der Aartalsee entstand''

Photographs of the Aartalsee
Dams in Hesse Lahn-Dill-Kreis SAar Reservoir Rock-filled dams 1991 establishments in Germany Hydroelectric power stations in Germany

Use

See also

External links