Lake Ormož ( Slovene and Croatian: ''Ormoško jezero'') 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 ...

on the Drava River in north-eastern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and north-western

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, forming a part of the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between the two countries. It was named after the nearby Slovenian town of

Ormož Ormož (; in older sources , , , Prekmurje Slovene: ''Ormošd'') is a town in the traditional region of Prlekija, part of Styria (Slovenia), Styria, in northeastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Drava, Drava River and borders with Croa ...

on the left bank of the Drava River, just next to its northern end, and has an area of approximately 3 km². The reservoir was constructed in 1975, when both Slovenia and Croatia were part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, to serve the Varaždin Hydroelectric Power Plant. The dam and the power plant are on the Croatian side of the border and represent the southern end of Lake Ormož. The border follows the natural course of the Drava River as it appeared before the construction of the reservoir. On the Slovenian side of the border, six retention basins were built near the left bank of Lake Ormož in 1980 to manage wastewater from a now defunct sugar factory in Ormož. In 1992, the

Municipality of Ormož The Municipality of Ormož (; ) is a municipality in the traditional region of Lower Styria, Styria in northeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Ormož. Ormož became a municipality in 1994. It borders Croatia. Geography ...

protected the Slovenian part of Lake Ormož and the area along its left bank as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

due to its importance as a

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

for birds. After the sugar factory was closed, the six retention basins became a

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

in a matter of years, eventually being protected as a nature reserve on a national level in 2017. As many as 261 different bird species were spotted around Lake Ormož, with the nature reserve also attracting some rare species of migratory birds.

References

External links

Drava basin

Croatia–Slovenia border Bird sanctuaries {{Slovenia-geo-stub