Kiliansteich

The Kiliansteich (literally "St. Kilian's Pond") is one of the oldest reservoirs in Germany. The reservoir is located near Straßberg (Harz) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and supplies drinking water. It impounds the Büschengraben stream. The lake is part of the heritage area (Flächendenkmal) of the Lower Harz Pond and Ditch System.

Kiliansteich
LocationLandkreis Harz
Coordinates51.60611°N 11.02083°E / 51.60611; 11.02083
Construction began1610, rebuilt 1989-1994
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsBüschengraben
Height (foundation)24.6 m (81 ft)
Height (thalweg)22.9 m (75 ft)
Length210 m (690 ft)
Elevation at crest442.23 m (1,450.9 ft)
Width (crest)4 m (13 ft)
Dam volume93,000 m3 (3,300,000 cu ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity1.26×10^6 m3 (44×10^6 cu ft)
Active capacity1.19×10^6 m3 (42×10^6 cu ft)
Catchment area3.9 km2 (1.5 sq mi)
Surface area17.3 ha (43 acres)
Normal elevation440.5 m (1,445 ft)

The reservoir has a rockfill dam with a watertight clay core that sits on a shale bedrock.

History

Originally there were four small ponds in a row on the site of the present-day reservoir that had been built for the mining industry. Two of those were broken in 1901 and 1944 and all were in a poor condition. As a result, from 1989-1994 a new, higher dam was built at the site of the lowest dam; the two middle ponds were removed and the upper one, the Upper Kilian Pond (Oberer Kiliansteich), built in 1703, was upgraded into a pre-dam (Vorsperre).

Originally laid as a drinking water reservoir, the lake is used today for flood and drought protection.

The dam on the original "Lower Kilian Pond" (Unterer Kiliansteich) was about 10 m high and had a retaining capacity of 165,000 m³. During the course of renovation the old wooden bottom outlet was salvaged on 25 September 1990 as the result on an initiative by Erika and Siegfried Lorenz. Following long-term conservation work at the Harzwasserwerken in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, who paid for the cost of transports and conservation, it was returned on 19 August 2010 to Straßberg. The wooden raceway is now a museum piece in the Glasebach Pit.

See also
  • List of dams in Germany

Sources

Talsperren in Sachsen-Anhalt, Autorenkollegium, Hrsg. Talsperrenmeisterei des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt 1994

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