Seč Reservoir () is an artificial
drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
reservoir in the
Pardubice Region
Pardubice Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It is named after its capital Pardubice. As an administrat ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. It supplies the city of
Pardubice
Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...
and the town of
Chrudim
Chrudim () is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest town of the region. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#M ...
and is also an important tourist destination located in the
Iron Mountains
The Iron Mountains are a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains. These mountains are located around the common meeting point of Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.
A portion of the Appalachian Trail runs the crest of the Iron Mountains ab ...
. The reservoir has also regulatory function and its water is used in some water
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
s.
Location
Seč Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the Iron Mountains Protected Landscape Area. It is located on the
Chrudimka
The Chrudimka is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Pardubice Region. It is long, making it the 18th longest river in the Czech Republic.
Etymology
The river is named after the town of Chrudi ...
River in a
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
close to the
town of the same name, about from Chrudim and from Pardubice. The reservoir is approx. long and is situated at above the sea level.
History
The dam was constructed between 1925 and 1934 as a protection against
floods
A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
. As a result of the construction, 22 buildings were depopulated and flooded. Remains of some of them are popular destination for
scuba divers
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...
. A small power plant was constructed between 1941 and 1946. In 1947 another smaller reservoir was constructed approx 1 km from the main reservoir and it is called Seč II.
File:Seč, Den otevřených dveří 2025 na přehradě B05. návštěvnící.jpg, Overview of the dam with visitors bellow
File:Seč, Den otevřených dveří 2025 na přehradě B01. návštěvnící.jpg, The Open Day attracted many visitors
File:Seč, Den otevřených dveří 2025 na přehradě B03. návštěvnící.jpg, The Open Day attracted many visitors
The machinery controlling the water tank outlet gates and other equipment was manufactured by the famous engineering company
Škoda Works
The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...
from Plzeň. The inspection corridor runs lengthwise through the dam at different height levels.
The dimensions of the concreted corridor are approximately 1 × 2 metres. The total length is approximately 100 metres from the left embankment to the right embankment. The entrance is provided by two transverse corridors, each 13 metres long, which are protected by steel doors. The necessary equipment for monitoring the dam is also placed inside the inspection corridor.
Few years later, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the construction of the
hydroelectric power plant
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
began. Quite unique
wooden
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
pipe with a diameter of two metres was used on most of the route to the power station. The main reason for this unique solution was probably the fact that the
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
administration did not allow the use of scarce steel, which was used for weapons production. The wooden pipes were used until 2010, when they were replaced by new steel pipes. Fragments of the original wooden pipes are on display in three places in the town of Seč: in front of the castle, near the power station and near the caravan site.
Biosystem
The environmentally most valuable part of Seč are Ostrůvek and the Oheb peninsula, which consists of a steep rock that ends with a small rocky promontory covered with pines. This place is a home to some rare
invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
species (
snail
A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...
s,
beetles
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
) as well as a natural habitat of
Eurasian eagle-owl
The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia.
It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
s. The forest that covers the Oheb rock consists of some very old species of
European beech
''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches.
Description
''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...
es. Dead trees are left to decay and become hosts for a wide range of
polypore
Polypores, also called bracket or shelf fungi, are a morphological group of basidiomycete-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi that form large fruiting bodies called conks, which are typically woody, circular, shelf- or bracket-shaped, ...
s that feed on their dead wood.
Tourism
The reservoir and its surroundings are the main tourist attraction of the Iron Mountains. It is used for recreational purposes and water sports.
Ecology
Oheb and Ostrůvek are protected natural areas threatened by tourists that visit these sites. Another ecological issue is the
wastewater
Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
from surrounding villages and recreational objects that contaminates the reservoir. It does not represent a direct risk to the people who swim in the water but it causes
algal bloom
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...
. In some cases, large areas of green "tufts" can be observed. This was originally believed to be caused by
manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nut ...
washed down from the fields close to the reservoir, but results of recent researches proved that
fluoride
Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic, Monatomic ion, monatomic Ion#Anions and cations, anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose ...
compounds from manure are insoluble in water so it cannot be the primary cause. The algal bloom season on Seč may start as soon as in June and gets worse when there's lack of
rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
which reduces the water flow. It is recommended to have a shower after swimming in the water or avoid entering the water when the situations worsens.
Gallery
Ostrůvek.jpg, Ostrůvek
Oheb.JPG, The Oheb rock (view from the reservoir)
Oheb4.jpg, The Oheb rock and peninsula
Ustupky.jpg, Ústupky
LakeSec.jpg, The reservoir (view towards the tributary)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sec Reservoir
Reservoirs in the Czech Republic
Dams completed in 1934
Chrudim District
1934 establishments in Czechoslovakia
20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic