Topic summary
Meldorf Bay
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Bay of Meldorf.
Today
When the last dykes were built from April 1969 to March 1978, taking in an area of about 8.5 x 8 kilometres, Meldorf Bay was left with an (estimated) area of 30 km². The construction of the latest dykes was not, however, primarily aimed at land reclamation but coastal defence. For example, by building new, 8.8 metre high dykes that were only 14.8 km long (in the core area of the bay), the crest of the dyke was raised significantly and the length of the dyke greatly shortened. The newly created Speicherkoog on Meldorf Bay is designed primarily to store water from the interior during inland flooding and to discharge it into the sea through two dyke sluices and scoop wheels. In addition, the salt marshes act as a protected sanctuary for birds. Agriculture only plays a minor role in Speicherkoog. Sheep are grazed here to help to stabilize the dykes. Both the Speicherkoog as well as the other undyked areas of Meldorf Bay belong to protection zone 1 of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and are therefore subject to special conservation laws.