Wägitalersee is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

lake in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Innerthal Innerthal is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in March District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. History Innerthal is first mentioned in 1259 as ''Wegental''. Until 1888 it was known as ''Hinterwäggithal''. Geography Inn ...

in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is situated in the ''Wägital'' (). Its outflow is the Wägitaler Aa, which drains into Upper Lake Zurich at Lachen. It is surrounded by the mountains

Gross Aubrig The Gross Aubrig (1,695 m or 5561 ft ) is a mountain of the Schwyzer Alps, overlooking the lake of Wägital in the canton of Schwyz. It lies north of the Fluebrig, on the range between the valley of the Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Sw ...

Fluebrig The Fluebrig (2,098 m) is a mountain massif of the Schwyzer Alps, located east of Unteriberg in the canton of Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbri ...

Zindlenspitz The Zindlenspitz (2,097 m) is a mountain of the Schwyzer Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Schwyz and Glarus. It lies on the range between the Wägitalersee Wägitalersee is a reservoir lake in the municipalities of Swit ...

Brünnelistock The Brünnelistock (2,133 m) is a mountain of the Schwyzer Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Schwyz and Glarus. It lies north of the Mutteristock, on the range between the Wägitalersee Wägitalersee is a reservoir lake in th ...

and Bockmattli. The old village of Innerthal was flooded in 1924 when the dam ''Schräh'' was constructed. A new village was built on the current lake.

Economy

The primary economical purpose of the Wägitalersee is to serve as

for

pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...

. The

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 ...

and the reservoir dam became operational in 1924, thereby creating the Wägitalersee. At the time, the dam was the tallest in the world at 366 feet having surpassed

Arrowrock Dam Arrowrock Dam is a concrete Arch dam, arch dam in the Western United States, western United States, on the Boise River in Southwestern Idaho, southwestern Idaho, east of Boise, Idaho, Boise. Opened in 1915, it is located on the border of Boise ...

located in Idaho, USA. The power plant is operated by NOK Wägital / AG Kraftwerk Wägital and produces approximately 120 million

kWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a common b ...

of energy per year. Besides the above industrial purpose, the lake is very popular as a (nearby) recreational area for families, hikers, nature lovers and especially fishermen. The waterside is easily accessible on foot and also by car (in certain areas). It can also be reached by a

PostBus Switzerland PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as in Swiss Standard German (), in Swiss French (), in Swiss Italian (), and in Romansh () is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Switz ...

route from station.

References

External links

Powerplant Operator: NOK Wägital / AG Kraftwerk Wägital

Wägitalersee fishing and boat rental homepage
* Lakes of the canton of Schwyz Reservoirs in Switzerland LWagitalersee {{Schwyz-lake-stub

Economy

See also

References

External links