Lake Lubāns

The Luban Lake ( also German: Lubahnsee, Latvian: Lubāns, also: Lubānas ezers or Lubāna ezers ) is the largest lake in Latvia.

The lake is located in the center of a valley in the east of Latvia and of the rivers Rezekne and Malta ( until 1966 directly ) fed. His discharge is via the river Aiviekste in the Daugava.

Regulation works

To curb the regular spring floods various dams, locks, canals and ditches were built since the mid 19th century. In a flood at the beginning of the 20th century an area of ​​650 km ² was flooded. By regulating the outflow in the Aiviekste 1929-1939, the water level dropped by several meters. The Meiran Channel in the southwest of the lake leads the earlier inflows Malmuta and lisina directly into the Aiviekste. The lowest water level had the lake mid -1970s. At that time, was for some time the Rāzna Lake the largest lake in Latvia. About 180 km ² former marsh and floodplain in Lubānas basins are dry today and agricultural use.

The surface of the lake varies greatly with the water level:

Conservation

Since 1999 there has been a nature reserve, which was significantly expanded in 2009. The wetlands are an important breeding area for some rare species of birds. In the lake there are 14 different fish species.