Melach
The Melach between Sellrain and Gries
The upper reaches of the Melach in Lüsenstal
The Melach is a right tributary of the Inn in Sellraintal in Tyrol with a length of about 23 km.
Course
The Melach arises from the confluence of several source streams north below the Lüsener Ferner in the municipality of St. Sigmund belonging in Sellrain Lüsenstal in the Stubai Alps. They first flows north through the Lüsenstal. In Gries im Sellrain it unites with the coming of the western Sellraintal Zirmbach and turns to the north. It flows through the Sellraintal and takes in Sellrain the Fotscher Bach on. At the valley entrance at Kematen she has cut a deep ravine, before exiting into the Inn valley, where she has heaped up a alluvial fan and the Inn pushed northward to the foot of the Martin wall. Between Unterperfuss and Kematen in Tirol it flows into the Inn. This intersection represents the official dividing line between the Upper Inn Valley and the Lower Inn Valley
Catchment and water management
The natural catchment area of Melach is around 245 km ², of which 5.1 km ² (2 %) glaciated. The highest point in the catchment area is the rear Brunnenkogel with 3325 m above sea level. A. Several tributaries of the Melach be derived in the memory Längental the power plant Silz, whereby the effective catchment area reduced by 60 km ².
The average discharge at the gauge in the Au is 4.08 m³ / s, which corresponds to a runoff of 28.3 l / s · km ². The Melach has a flow regime, as is typical for a mountain without appreciable influence glacier. The average discharge is in the water-rich month of June ( 8.06 m³ / s), around five times higher than in the most arid month of February (1.57 m³ / s). Heavy rains and strong snowmelt regularly led to the fact that the Melach in the lower reaches burst its banks in particular. Already around 1280 Uferschutzbauten be mentioned to protect the fields and meadows around Kematen. Finally, it came in June 1965 to large-scale flooding of the fields in the Inn Valley and the undermining of the railway embankment of the Arlberg railway, which was interrupted two weeks.
Environment
The headwaters and upper reaches of the Melach in the rear Lüsenstal lie in rest area Stubai Alps, there is their course largely natural, from the Juifenau above Gries the banks of the Melach are built almost continuously. The Melach is used throughout the course on water quality class I-II.
Name
The name of the Melach, formerly known as Melchbach, Melch or Malch is on the word " milk " is returned, in allusion to the milky white water (glacier milk). In contrast, the name is also associated with the root mel " gloomy" ( related to Greek μέλας ) in conjunction.