The Ergolz is the main river in the canton of Basel-Landschaft,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It rises on Mount Geisflue in the Faltenjura mountains in the upper region of Basel-Landschaft, on the border with

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

and Solothurn, and joins the Rhine at

Augst Augst ( Swiss German: ''Augscht'') is a municipality in the district of Liestal in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. It was known as Augusta Raurica in Roman times. History Augst is first mentioned in 615 as ''Augustodunensem prae ...

. Among the tributaries of the Ergolz are ''Eibach'', ''Homburgerbach'', ''Diegterbach'', '' Frenke'' (Anterior and Posterior Frenke), '' Orisbach'', ''Röserenbach'' and '.

Numerical data

Since 1934 the water level and discharge of the Ergolz have been measured at

Liestal Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel. Liestal is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town. The official language of Li ...

. During these more than 70 years, the average flow towards the Rhine was . During 2006, the average flow was . The peak in that year was on 10 April 2006, at . The extreme values measured at Liestal were a minimum of (in 1947) and a maximum of (in 1999).

History

The river supplied drinking water to the Roman city of Augusta Raurica. To this end, an aqueduct was constructed, which began upstream of today's Liestal. Parts of the aqueduct still stand today. Two places where the aqueduct can be visited and walked today, are in the Heidenloch district of Liestal and north-east of the sewage treatment plant in Füllinsdorf. The Ergolz was increasingly

polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

during the first half of the 20th century. From 1960 onwards, pollution was countered by the construction of sewage treatment plants.

External links

Measurement data of the Federal Office for the Environment from 2006
(PDF; 55 kB) *

{{Authority control Rivers of Switzerland Rivers of Basel-Landschaft