__NOTOC__ Wägitalersee is an

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in Wägital, a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The lake is surrounded by the mountains Gross Aubrig,

Fluebrig The Fluebrig (2,098 m) is a mountain massif of the Schwyzer Alps, located east of Unteriberg in the canton of Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal C ...

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 __NOTOC__ Wägitalersee is an artificial lake in Wägital, a va ...

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 __NOTOC__ Wägitalersee is an artificial ...

and Bockmattli. The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

is located in the municipality of

Innerthal Innerthal is a 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 Innerthal has an area of . Of thi ...

. 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. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

. 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 generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

and the reservoir dam became operational in 1924, thereby creating the Wägitalersee. 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 unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...

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).

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