In order to better record the low water discharge of the Elz, the water profile is narrowed by a structure. A “rough ramp” is intended to provide passage for fish.
The Elzpegel in Gutach will be converted from the end of May. As announced by the Freiburg Government Office (RP), the measuring station is to record the increased low water runoff as a result of long dry periods. The cost is around 700,000 euros.
With regard to climate change, it is not only floods but also the documentation of low water runoff that are becoming increasingly important. “The water level is an important decision-making aid for the environmental administration and the water users, in order to be able to control water abstraction in persistent dry periods, for example,” explains project manager Renate Remmel from the Landesbetrieb Gewsser at the Freiburg government office. The year 2020 at the Elzpegel in Gutach was an example of the changed runoff conditions due to climate change. Here, both the highest and lowest water levels were recorded in February at 259 centimeters and in August at 33 centimeters – two extremes in one year.
The previously 25 meter wide water profile is therefore to be narrowed in the area of the measuring station by a so-called constriction structure so that the low water levels can be precisely recorded by corresponding flow depths and better recording is also possible with other discharge conditions. In addition, a “rough ramp” is to be built for fish and other aquatic life.
The existing gauge house and the measurement technology will be retained; A descent from the left bank will be made for better maintenance of the station. Individual trees have to be filled, which, according to the RP, will be replaced by new plantings at the end of the renovation. The construction work should be completed in early October.
The Gutach-Elz gauge is one of 80 discharge measuring stations in the administrative district.
The planning was carried out in close cooperation with the State Agency for the Environment in Karlsruhe and the Gutach community. A swift construction process is intended to keep the impairments for residents and disabilities along the riverside path as low as possible.
The Elzpegel in Gutach was built in 1941. It is one of around 80 discharge measuring stations in the Freiburg administrative region and thus an important part of the surface water measuring network in Baden-Wrttemberg. The water levels are continuously measured there and discharge data is made available. The high water alarm at the Gutach-Elz gauge is automatically transmitted to the Emmendingen integrated control center when the water level is 185 centimeters, so that appropriate protective measures can be initiated for the underflow.
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