Bettenauer Weiher

The bed Weiher, colloquially Betti is, occupies one of a natural marsh pond pond west of Oberuzwil and northeast of Jonschwil in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

• 3.1 Fauna
• 3.2 Flora
• 3.3 sediment
• 3.4 Protection Status

Geography

The bed Weiher lies in a valley between mountain and wild Uzwil entirely on the territory of the municipality Oberuzwil, in the region of Toggenburg in the Swiss Alps area. The pond base consists of peat soil. For ponds include the eastern, smaller Torfweiher.

The bed Weiher was originally a marsh pond, whose origin is ultimately due to the formation of a depression between the wild mountain and the Vogelsberg during the Würm Ice Age, when the entire Toggenburg was covered by the Rhine Glacier. 1464, the year of first mention, acquired the St. Gallen Prince Abbot Ulrich Rösch the Good Schoran, which also includes the pond belongs. By creating a dam on the western shore was a fish pond in the marsh pond.

History

Origin of the name

The pond has its name from the nearby hamlet Bettenau, but in contrast to the lake belongs to Jonschwil. Bettenau itself was first mentioned in 772 as Betinavia and 883 for the second time as Bette Nova erkundlich, which is also the name of the lake naturalized. The pond itself was first mentioned as sold to the Prince Abbot Ulrich Rösch St.Galler under this name.

Use

After the sale of the Prince Abbot of St. Gallen former marsh pond was converted into a fish pond. At the outflow of the pond, a mill was operated. Use as a fish pond lasted until 1813, the area around the lake was operated peat-cutters. This year, the cantonal Jakob Weber bought from Oberuzwil on water rights and expanded the use of water power from stronger. 1844 bought the low Uzwil Industrial Mathias Naef 's rights, whose company Naef & Cie. the rights later took over. 1912, the pond area was bought by Adolf Bühler from Uzwil. Meanwhile, Bühler AG took over the rights in 1927 and owns it to this day. For the period around 1930 is evidence that the ice blocks had been cut out from the lake, which were used for the brewery in Oberuzwil.

Ecology

Fauna

In the lake carp, tench, perch, rudd and pike are found, the latter is used annually. Were still in the 1980s with grass frog, common toad, Alpine newt, palmate newt, water frog and frog six amphibian species counted. The latter occurrence is extinct in the 1990s. At the lake there are occurrences of ducks and coots. Regular breeding population are viewed by grebes. At times be spotted herons, swans, however, for several years, not more. Next grass snakes are sighted frequently. Around 2000, also three turtles were exposed, which can be observed even today (2012 ) at certain points.

Flora

The natural stock of white water lily is one of the last in Switzerland, with a sharp decline in incidence has been recorded since the 1980s. Previously, a Mähschiff was used to curb the strong growth.

Sediment

The depth of the lake has been a steady decline in the years after 1949, but remained fairly constant since 1988. A sedimentation is almost undetectable. A siltation, if at all, only a reed zones on the south-western and south-eastern shore of the pond suspected, since there the water depth is at its lowest. The trees planted after 1960 were 2002/ 03 cleared for security reasons. Thus, at the same time fell off a major cause of siltation.

Protection status

The area around the bed Weiher is a fen of regional importance. He is part of an amphibian spawning area of national importance. For this reason, the pond has since 1993 an amphibian tail, ie a protected Underpass.

Economic Importance

The economic importance of Bettauers pond is very low. The pond is directly used nowadays have only selected by retirees of the company Bühler AG, to fish the right at the pond, exclusive. The area around the bed Weiher serves as a conservation and recreation area within the region and is accessible by hiking trails. The restaurants near the lake walkers make up only a part of the clientele. A marketing takes place only to a small extent, as an example, the Betti - called calendar with a circulation of about 1,000 copies. In winter, the frozen surface of the lake for skating is released.

Statistics

The bed Weiher is located 590 meters above the sea. The volume of water contained in the lake is about 200,000 cubic meters at a depth of up to 1.80 m. The pond itself has a surface area of ​​100,000 m², the Torfweiher additional 14,000 m². The pond drained in principle only located on the southern shore slope, which is used for cattle farming. The water supply is thus low and as a result, the residence time in the high seas. Until the 1970s, the pond was drained and regularly frozen out of the pond floor, which had a negative impact on the fish population.

Others

In the stories of laughter Weiler (meaning Jonschwil ) by Heinrich Federer is repeatedly alluded to the pond, even if the name of the pond, as is also not mentioned by Jonschwil. In the novella The Stolen King of Belgium can be found, for example, such hints.