The ''Saar'' is a minor tributary of the

Alpine Rhine The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth ...

in the Swiss

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeaster ...

. It rises in Mittelsäss,

Bad Ragaz Bad Ragaz is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is the home of a famous natural spring and is a popular spa and health resort destination. History Bad Ragaz is f ...

municipality, at 2,087 m elevation. Flowing generally north, it passes the ''Saarfall'' waterfall, dropping from 560 m to 500 m, reaching the plain of the

Rhine Valley ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. From here, it is strongly

canalised River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and be ...

, flowing through the territories of the

Vilters-Wangs Vilters-Wangs is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Vilters-Wangs is first mentioned about 843 as ''Filtris''. Geography Vilters-Wangs has an area, , of . ...

Mels Mels is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the Seeztal, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. History Mels is first mentioned in 765 as ''Maile'' though this comes from a later copy of the original document. I ...

and

Sargans Sargans is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Sargans was a ...

municipalities before joining the Rhine downstream of

Trübbach Wartau is a municipality in the Werdenberg constituency of the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. The municipality consists of a number of villages on the eastern flank of the Alvier group, along the left shore of the Alpine Rhine. Geography Wartau ...

at 480 m. Its named tributaries are ''Kleine Saar'' (left), ''Vadanabach'' (left) ''Saschielbach '' (right), ''Silbergiessen'' (right), ''Chrummgiessen'' (right) and ''Kaltgiessen'' (right). The Saar was first canalised between 1855–1862. Its confluence with the Rhine was moved 700 metres downstream, to the mouth of the ''Trübbach''. Its lower course was widened in 1899–1908. Its mouth was again moved downstream by 2.5 km after a flood in 1954.

References

no. 168893
in ''Topographische Einzugsgebiete der Schweizer Gewässer: Gebietsauslässe'' (

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal ...

). *Hans Rohner: 'Die Binnengewässerkorrektion im St. Galler Rheintal' ''Der Alpenrhein und seine Regulierung. Internationale Rheinregulierung 1892–1992.'' 2nd ed. 1993, pp 294–300. Rivers of the canton of St. Gallen Sargans Bad Ragaz Rivers of Switzerland {{Switzerland-river-stub

See also

References